


Through the Looking Glass

by WaveGoodbye



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 16:17:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 34,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaveGoodbye/pseuds/WaveGoodbye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel seeks to repair the damage caused by cursed sprinkles and invites a reluctant Quinn to a sleepover at teen witch Tina Cohen-Chang's house to prove to her that they are still normal people. Things don't quite go as planned. Sequel to Rainbow Bright.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for fun.
> 
> Author's Note: This is my slightly belated contribution to Faberry Week. Over 10K of it was written several weeks after writing Rainbow Bright but I wasn't happy with the way that it flowed and decided to leave it well alone despite the fact that it bugged me to have an unfinished sequel sitting on my hd. When I saw the prompts for this FW, I knew I had to finish it. It already incorporated two of the prompts within it, so I decided to add all of the other prompts as well. Hopefully it works.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy.

She was scared at first.

After waking up in Rachel's bed and then Tina teleporting her across school, well, Quinn would think herself certifiably insane if she was anything _but_ scared shitless. Not having control of her own desires with Rachel was the single most mortifying experience of her life thus far.

If that wasn't enough, she had to sit through a ridiculous amount of Finn and Rachel duets in Glee Club. Finn had always had the title of one of the most irritating boys on the football team but at least then she didn't have to watch his face contort as he sung whatever song he'd been assigned. At best he would get tackled to the ground over and over again, and at worst she'd see his frustration over never winning a game. It wasn't a bad deal.

Now all she had were the times Finn mooned over Rachel like some pathetic, lovesick tween for the entire club to see. It was only made a little better the day when Quinn realised that Rachel had quite a habit of ignoring him by looking over at _her_ the same way, only less annoying somehow.

The only way Glee Club was tolerable was if Brittany or Santana stayed glued to her side. They were the only people who understood how embarrassed she still was over the sprinkles incident, and also who weren't best friends with a witch who obviously couldn't be trusted. Brittany never took to the subtle hints so whenever she would see Rachel approaching and make a move to leave, Quinn would grab her arm hard enough for it to hurt.

Quinn also made it a point to stray from the choreography if she was placed next to Rachel. She had gone so far as to avoid any and all physical contact with her.

"Quinn."

Quinn turned around just in time to see Rachel's hand about to come to rest on her shoulder. She stepped away and lifted a questioning eyebrow. "What?"

Tina stood by Rachel's side now but it was Rachel who continued. "We were wondering how you're feeling? You haven't really said anything."

Quinn looked between them and walked away without responding.

Rachel was disappointed but not surprised as she watched her walk out of the choir room, expecting as much from the exchange since the moment Quinn had backed away. Tina wasn't quite so forgiving. She said Quinn's name three times.

Back in front of them, Quinn's eyes hardened. "Do that again," she dared, even though her heart was positively pounding inside her chest. It had been two weeks since she'd seen Tina use her magic.

"Next time it'll be Timbuktu," Tina warned.

Quinn crossed her arms, missing a hint of a smile playing on Rachel's lips at her defensiveness.

"What do you want?"

"Rachel just asked you."

Quinn focused her attention on Rachel. She smiled falsely. "Fine, I'm feeling violated and seconds away from spilling someone's secret. Does that answer your question?"

"Tread carefully, Quinn. Rachel's the only one who likes you," Tina said. She didn't know her too well, and what she did know about her didn't exactly warm Tina's heart. Their interaction, thanks to Quinn, had mostly come in the form of spiteful exchanges. "Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, you're coming to a sleepover at my house tonight. All the Glee girls are going to be there."

"No."

Rachel cut in before Tina. "We were wondering if you'd like to come to the sleepover," she amended. "It's gonna be fun. Her house is huge and I hear there'll be a huge storm. Perfect sleepover weather, right?"

"No."

Tina was losing her patience. "You're pronouncing 'okay' wrong."

"I'm not going," Quinn said. "I have plans."

"Yeah, with us." Rachel's voice was gentle. "Bond with the rest of the girls tonight. Come on, it'll be fun. You can see that we're just normal people who have normal rituals."

Quinn's scowl fell away some but she still didn't budge. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm spending the night with you again. For any reason," she added on.

Okay, so maybe Tina had just been having a bad day so far. Rachel was probably right; Quinn needed gentle coaxing. "Quinn, you've been in the club for two weeks. Can you remember one time I scared you or made you feel like I'd hurt you or anyone else? I'm a good witch."

Quinn huffed out a breath of laughter. "I don't know, there was that time where your stupid sprinkles cursed me. Remember that?"

"I really don't see that as a reason to overreact."

"Overreact? I was possessed!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Or what, you'll turn me into a frog?"

Tina was done with being nice. If Quinn was going to be a bitch, so was she. "Goat."

Quinn glared and Tina felt a nudge from Rachel. She sighed internally and gave her friend a quick glance, not missing a pointed look to fix things.

"I'm sorry things got so out of control last time," Tina apologised. "It won't happen again." Rachel cleared her throat none too subtly. "I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Rachel's smile quivered when Quinn made eye contact. She nodded mutely in agreement to also stay out of any future situation involving Tina's magic where it could possibly affect Quinn.

Eventually, Quinn gave in. She knew she didn't have a leg to stand on. Tina could just say her name several times and she would be at the sleepover whether she wanted to be or not. "Fine, but there are…rules to this stupid engagement; the most important being to leave me alone when I tell you to or I'll tell everyone that it was you who was responsible for my insane behaviour in the cafeteria for the entire student body to see. If I'm not there when you wake up in the morning, take it as a compliment that I didn't wake you by trying to see if you really do melt with water. Also, I refuse to sleep next to anyone but Brittany and Santana. If they don't go, I don't go. That's it."

X

Rachel wasn't wrong about the storm, as she knew would be the case. For most residents of Lima, Ohio, it was a strange occurrence indeed considering the severity and how it hadn't even been forecast in any of the weather reports.

Quinn had arrived at the sleepover with Brittany and Santana and made them stand in front of her at the door, walking past an irritatingly welcoming Tina. The house was large for Lima, probably around the same size as Quinn's own home, and she silently followed Tina up to her bedroom where the rest of the overnight bags were stored.

She'd been on edge about this ever since she reluctantly agreed to it; less than approachable to enquire about her weekend plans with anyone with half a brain. It didn't wear off once she got there and joined the rest of the female members of the group, plus Kurt in the living room.

Quinn saw Rachel's wide, genuine smile as she challenged Mercedes over the entertainment and, after hearing the loud giggle, looked to anyone else in the vicinity for several minutes following. The announced presence of the remaining guests caused the noisy but light-hearted debate of which movie to watch to be halted and replaced with greetings instead.

Within minutes, the only two other people whom Quinn could completely relate to had switched to the dark side, so to speak. Brittany and Santana didn't seem to have any concern over their company whatsoever, leaving Quinn's lukewarm demeanour at absolute best to seem worse than it actually was. She had a very good reason for acting that way.

Pizza was ordered without much of a delay and candy, chips, and popcorn were in bowls all over the coffee table and in some of the laps and hands of the girls —plus Kurt— who she was slowly getting to know through observation over the past couple of weeks rather than conversation. Usually at the sleepovers she went to, the snacks were all healthy. Allowing herself to binge on junk food were rare but welcomed moments of luxury, even if she did have to almost torture herself at the gym to work it all off afterwards.

While they were waiting for dinner, they had to decide on the movie to watch. Rachel's suggestion was denied which left only two choices. Quinn didn't care which one she had to sit through and offered a mere shrug when she was asked which one she preferred.

Nobody spoke to her for a little while after that. Not until…

"Do you want some?"

Quinn turned towards the voice and saw Rachel looking at her. "What?"

They weren't sitting too far apart, especially as Kurt and Mercedes had gotten up from the couch to refill drinks. Rachel extended her arm across the gap to offer a bowl of candy. Their pizza was supposed to be there soon but she'd seen Quinn eyeing the bowl as it was passed around a few minutes ago and wanted to use it to begin a neutral conversation. "At least take a stash before it all goes. I know we ordered a lot of pizza and almost everyone in this room looks normal, but don't let their appearance fool you. They're pigs. I mean, seriously, they can eat, and they will eat. Everything."

Quinn didn't answer her verbally but she did take the bowl, so Rachel saw it as a success.

When dinner arrived and had begun to fill the bellies of everyone there, the girls and Kurt remained seated in the living room, this time with the lights off and a slight change of seats as they watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. As predicted by Quinn —internally, of course, one of them jumped harder and more often than anybody else in the room. She glared ahead at the screen each time a particularly violent jerk from Rachel sent her own heart thundering.

She also glared at Kurt earlier when she came back from the kitchen and found that he and Mercedes had moved to the other side of the couch, leaving the only comfortable seat in the room to be the space next to Rachel. She'd sat down without a word but a promise of revenge was written in her eyes.

In fact, the only time Quinn jumped was when Rachel practically flew off her seat at Emily's twisted body in the dorm room, gripping the top of Quinn's hand painfully. It was then that Quinn got up and sat on the arm of the couch next to Mercedes. She didn't know much about the girl but so far she hadn't done much, or anything really, to make her uncomfortable or piss her off. That was reason enough to sit next to her, however uncomfortable it was to sit and watch a movie like that.

Quinn hadn't looked in Rachel's direction once in at least fifteen minutes, just sipped at her water and pretended that she couldn't feel the atmosphere in the room.

Mercedes craned her neck to see Brittany walking back in the room. She'd been gone for a while. "Where have you been?"

Brittany smiled, sitting down next to Tina. "Talking to the cat. He's so nice!"

Quinn smirked at what she thought was Brittany teasing. Thank God she had two of her friends there. They might seem a lot more comfortable there than she was but the night was still made somewhat bearable by having them there with her. Even Tina's aunts were weird.

A black cat sprung up on Quinn's lap and she smiled again, gently stroking his fur. "You're cute," she told him quietly after a minute, listening to him purr. She looked to Tina. "What's his name?"

"Salem Saberhagen."

"Salem Saberhagen Cohen-Chang? I just aged a year saying his name. Unless it's just Saberhagen, then I can—" It was then that Quinn realised Tina hadn't spoken at all, and neither had any of the other girls or Kurt.

She gasped in terror, dropping her glass of water where the remaining contents spilled down her torso and then the carpet. Without thought, Quinn pushed the feline off her lap and launched sideways, using her feet to push herself further down the couch against the screams of pain and protest from Kurt and Mercedes. It was simply a coincidence that it happened to be towards Rachel, pushing awkwardly in her lap where she drew her legs up in case the cat decided to get any ideas about clawing her feet.

Rachel's lips slowly quirked up. She'd have to remember to thank Salem later. Her arm slipped around Quinn's lap. "He's harmless," Rachel said, not minding the water seeping through Quinn's top to her own.

Quinn's head shook over and over again, eyes shut. This wasn't happening. She'd been acting like a bitch and Tina cursed her drink in retaliation. This was just a hallucination. Household pets didn't talk, for God's sake. It wasn't a Disney movie.

"Honestly. Kind of moody sometimes, but he gives great advice and always shares the popcorn," Rachel said. She felt Quinn begin to relax in her arms.

A startling realisation fell over Quinn.

She was on Rachel's _lap_.

She groaned and climbed off her when she realised what she'd done, stumbling down to Santana who was on the floor, looking like she hadn't taken a breath since Salem spoke. Finally, they were on the same page again. Quinn gave her a harsh elbow to the ribs to snap her out of it.

Rachel tried her best not to be hurt by Quinn's behaviour but it didn't seem to work this time. She put the lamp on and pulled at her wet top uncomfortably.

"I should clean up." Unable to help but notice Quinn's lack of apology, she added a sarcastic, "It's no problem, or anything."

Quinn took her eyes off Salem for a split second. Rachel's attitude was as subtle as a blow to the face. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am."

"You're unbelievable."

The gentle, warm way in which Rachel couldn't help but usually regard Quinn with was replaced with a hard lift of her brows and the beginnings of what seemed like genuine disappointment. "I'm unbelievable?"

Quinn's heart pounded the longer she stared at the cat sitting across the floor from her. Rachel's timing to pick a fight was a bad one. "Oh shut up, you big baby, there's a talking cat in the room!"

"So?"

"Why are you such a freak? There is a _talking cat_ in this room!"

The tension grew thick again and it wasn't because of the movie or the rain pelting against the windows. After Rachel left to go upstairs, Brittany spoke up.

"Quinn, that was harsh. I mean, especially after the sprinkles experience you shared together."

"We didn't share _anything_ ," Quinn spat out.

Brittany shrugged. "If you say so."

"Should we talk about how you and Santana are doing since _your_ sprinkles experience?"

"Our situation is entirely different."

"Yeah, right."

"At least we haven't completely avoided talking about it," Santana said.

There was an abrupt clap of thunder and Tina gasped, jumping forward to look towards the staircase. She shot to her feet after a moment. "Gotta go."

The worried expression on Tina's face and the way her aunts raced into the room and followed her upstairs didn't sit right with Quinn. Movie paused; she looked to everyone else who, except for Brittany and Santana, looked stricken with fear.

"What's going on?"

Mercedes shook her head. "Nothing, Quinn. Press play."

Santana had her thumb on the button when she remote was ripped out of her hand.

Quinn chewed her bottom lip and looked over to the stairs. Something wasn't right. That thunder was too loud. It sounded like it came from inside the house.

"Kurt," she began sweetly, "would you like your voice to be an octave higher than usual so that the dogs can hear you?"

Kurt rolled his eyes at the threat but held a cushion over his lap, just in case. "Tina has everything under control. Relax, okay? Put the movie back on."

Brittany got on the floor next to Santana and reached for the remote. Quinn threw it across the room and listened intently for any voices upstairs.

"Oh, no!" Tina wailed.

Kurt and Mercedes shared a look.

Quinn was already at the stairs.

When she reached the top, she looked to the closed door —Tina's room, where Rachel was getting changed, and her feet refused to move forward to go inside. After a beat, she noticed where Tina and her aunts had got to. They looked ridiculous standing in and around the linen closet but it was enough for her shoulders to slacken in relief.

"Is there a spider or something?" She stayed out of the way. Quinn couldn't stand spiders.

Tina didn't have time to sugar-coat it, and neither did her aunts. "We have to find Rachel!"

"You think she's hiding in the towels? Your door's closed, she's getting changed." Quinn knocked on the bedroom door. "Open up, you're missing no fun at all." After several beats, she knocked again. There was still no answer. "Oh, that's great, very mature. You sit there and ignore me because I got water on your stupid star pyjamas."

Santana and Brittany had followed Quinn up. They shoved past her and opened Tina's bedroom door.

It swung open and Quinn stepped in front of the girls. "She's changing!"

"Rachel's not here," Brittany announced as she looked around the room.

"She said she was getting changed." Quinn walked into the room and frowned at the sight of Rachel's pyjama top folded on top of her overnight bag but no sign of her anywhere.

Maybe she was in the bathroom.

Tina felt physically sick and Quinn's re-emergence from the bedroom didn't help matters either. Quinn looked calm. For the moment.

"Where's the bathroom?" Quinn asked. She didn't wait long for a response. "Rachel!"

"She was probably getting you a towel," Tina surmised with a hand to her head, ignoring Quinn's question altogether. "Oh, not good, not good. I have to find her."

"How big can the house be?"

Tina inhaled deeply. It was now or never and she could hardly leave Rachel without assistance. Lord knows where she had got to. "Rachel's in another realm."

"A what?"

"Another dimension."

"Excuse me?"

"Another world."

Quinn landed in a heap on the floor.

It wasn't any surprise. A young girl could only take so much shock in one day. First Salem talking, then the fact that not only was she in a house with three witches during an unpredicted rainstorm but their linen closet was a portal to another realm and Rachel had accidentally gone through it.

Quinn came to with Tina's aunts leaning over her.

"She's not dead!" one of them cheered. "Told you."

The more sensible of the two gave her sister a roll of her eyes. "But she's had a terrible shock. Here, sweetie, let's get you up and you can have some water."

Mercedes and Kurt were standing next to Brittany and Santana as Quinn sat upright.

"We have to look for her," Mercedes said. "We should split up."

Kurt nodded towards Santana. "You're with me. Brittany, you go with Santana."

"I'm not trying to be a bitch, but we don't even know you guys that well and you expect us to one, believe that this isn't an elaborate prank, and two, on the off-chance that you're telling the truth, split up."

"It's okay." Brittany said. "This is better. This way we'll both be with someone who's been to another realm before or at least knows the basics."

Everything about the situation was insane but Santana smiled faintly. Her eyes hardened as soon as they left Brittany's and landed on Mercedes. "Lose her and you lose your head. Same for you," she warned Tina.

Tina sighed, looking at Quinn. "You're with me."

Quinn nodded slowly. "All right."

"Did you hit your head?"

"I—" Quinn's mouth clamped shut and she got to her feet with Brittany's help. "Rachel's alone and... I'm not a monster," she added quietly.

Tina looked to everyone. "Think of Rachel and you'll go to her."

"Wait." Santana held a hand up. "So why is everyone going if all it's going to take is thinking of her?" she asked. It seemed like a valid question.

"Because there are thousands of realms. Most of them are like alternate realities where we all still exist, just differently. The key is to ignore the world around you and focus on why you're there. You can't get caught up in it or you'll get stuck."

Quinn swallowed thickly. "What do we do when we find her? How will everyone know to stop looking?"

"Oh, we have that covered," one of the aunts said.

"What do you mean 'most' are like alternate realities? What are the other realms?" Brittany wondered.

Tina dodged the question. They didn't need to be any more scared than they already were. There was a slim chance any of them would end up in a reality close to their current worst nightmare, anyway. "Is everyone clear?" She looked to Kurt and Mercedes. "You know what to do."

They nodded, and Quinn watched Kurt and Santana leave first; a loud clap of thunder signalling their departure, then Mercedes and Brittany. Quinn stepped inside the linen closet with some hesitance, but as soon as she heard Tina behind her she cleared her head.

Rachel filled it.

For the first time in two weeks, Quinn allowed herself to think about Rachel and her senses were overloaded almost instantaneously. She saw Rachel smile, felt her body pressing hers into the mattress and, perhaps the biggest surprise, Rachel's most recent performance in front of their small choir where Quinn had sat at the back with an even expression disciplined to her face.

And then she heard thunder.

X

Quinn thought it would have been like the time she suddenly went from being in the bathroom to standing in the choir room within the second; disorienting, but it wasn't. It was ten times worse. Even with the physical side-effects, Quinn didn't want to believe that it had worked. Maybe it was a prank for being short-tempered with Rachel.

She opened one eye.

"Did it work?"

"Only one way to find out."

Tina stepped forward and opened the door.

Quinn looked at her surroundings with surprise. It worked. For some reason, she had expected to still be at Tina's house, just a different version of it. They were in the high school during the day, now wearing clothes instead of pyjamas.

She reluctantly left the janitor's closet and looked up and down the deserted halls with suspicion.

Tina looked mildly apologetic when her tap to Quinn's arm caused her to start. "Are you okay? If this is too much, I can send you ba—"

"Where do we start?"

"We split up and search the school. If she's not in or around the place we were sent, it means we're in the wrong realm."

Quinn didn't look so pleased with the idea of being alone in a new world. "What if I need your help?"

"I cast a spell before we left so that I'll hear you, wherever I am. Just say my name and I'll be there in a flash."

They headed off in opposite directions and Quinn checked every single classroom she walked past, ignoring the questions and stares each time. It threw her when she saw Suzy Pepper in a Cheerios uniform and Jacob Ben Israel sporting a letterman's jacket, arm draped across her shoulders. She was definitely in an alternate reality.

She looked inside every bathroom and the locker room. On her way back through the school, in the middle of double-checking the classrooms, Quinn heard a frustrated grumble.

It was unmistakably Rachel.

Quinn hurried inside the choir room and stopped in her tracks when she saw Rachel sitting alone with her feet propped up on the chair in front. Her legs were crossed at the ankle, a book open on her lap. Quinn just looked at her.

Rachel looked the same, except for one thing. Quinn couldn't put her finger on it.

Sensing someone's gaze on her, Rachel looked up, her face brightening when she saw who it was. "What took you so long?"

"How long has it been?"

"Years," Rachel embellished, looking down to Quinn's empty hands. "And you forgot your notes. How am I supposed to pass this test without your help?"

Quinn was sent into a momentary panic when she heard years. What if it did take that long to find Rachel? The one she knew. In some ways, anyway.

She left with a promise to hurry back with her notes. As soon as Quinn was clear, she heard Rachel call out, "Love you!" and grimaced, walking away as fast as possible.

X

Rachel stayed in the stall as long as she could.

She had been changing in the bedroom, growing uneasy with the wind picking up outside and the window that was open. It was blowing the pages of Tina's magic book when she decided to grab a towel for Quinn on the way downstairs. She had to be patient with Quinn. Pushing her wouldn't help anyone.

Rachel's fingers were wrapped around a towel when the wind picked up even further, lifting the weighty curtains in Tina's bedroom. She felt the shift in the air pressure and knew what was next but there just hadn't been enough time to react before the linen closet door slammed shut. She didn't have a chance.

Tina had warned her about going in there without putting a doorstop down to prevent something like this from happening. Rachel knew she'd been transported to a different realm; she just wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about it. Sure, Tina had told her before but the advice was currently wiped from her memory with shock. At least, Rachel hoped it was shock. If it wasn't, that meant it wouldn't wear off.

She'd been hiding in the bathroom for the past ten minutes.

It looked like the bathroom by her Home Economics class.

She had to find Tina. Maybe then she could convince her that she had the power to send her back to her world, or at least figure it out together. Rachel just hoped they were friends in this realm. Her face fell. She hoped this realm's Tina knew she was a witch.

Rachel poked her head out of the bathroom and glanced around the halls. No-one seemed to be waiting with a slushie for her, so she sucked in a deep breath and left the safety of the bathroom.

In less than two minutes of roaming the halls looking for Tina, the bell rang and gone was the peaceful atmosphere she needed for optimum thinking capacity. She didn't do anything well under pressure unless it involved singing, and searching for her best friend who had supernatural powers in a completely different realm strayed a little far from her comfort zone.

Rachel's train of thought was broken when she felt an arm slung around her shoulders and frowned when she saw who it was, quick to shrug his arm off her body. "Not now, Jacob."

"You staying over again tonight?" Jacob asked hopefully. "My folks got stuck with some family obligation stuff and are out of town until tomorrow now."

Unfortunately one look was all that it took for her to be convinced that he was not kidding. They were obviously dating. Rachel abruptly faced straight ahead, her face contorted with disdain and disgust. Of all of the realms she could have been sent to, she went to one worse than hers? The injustice of it all!

"Hey, Rachel."

She looked to a pretty brunette walking past, focusing on the Cheerios outfit for a second. That girl was popular and was willingly talking to her in public? "Uh… hi?"

"What's up, Berry?"

This time, a basketball player. This was peculiar indeed. Rachel began to take more notice of the people in the halls and realised that she was getting attention. The good kind. Popular people were seeking her out, if only for a few quick words. She stopped feeling nauseous and worrying over what could have happened at Jacob's house last night, smiling instead. This was great. This was _brilliant_. It would make finding Tina so much easier. This way she could ask for help and it would be given.

The greetings began to die down the further down the halls she walked but she couldn't help but notice that most of the people around her looked… less popular than those she had just been with. Rachel also couldn't help but notice the glares she was being given now.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a skinny boy walking her way, shoving his glasses up his nose. She gasped loudly and grabbed his arm once he was close enough. "Artie," she shouted in elation. "You can walk!"

Artie ducked his head, immediately pulling his arm out of Rachel's hand. The action wasn't abrupt but it was clear that he didn't feel comfortable being around her. "Yup, since I was one. It's a miracle."

Rachel had tears in her eyes. His sarcasm didn't register at first, she was in too much shock, but then Jacob turned and his arm shot out, settling his fist in the centre of Artie's back hard enough to send him sprawling to the ground.

"Talk to her like that again and maybe you'll be in a chair the rest of your life," Jacob threatened. He thought he'd done his girlfriend a great justice and turned to look at her, to put the question of her staying over again, and was met with a sharp blow to the face.

"How dare you treat someone like that! Who do you think you are?"

He put his hand to his face to soothe the sting. It was not the first time he'd done something to receive a slap to the face and Rachel had an arm on her, that was for sure. "Your boyfriend, who was defending you. Maybe next time I won't bother."

"That would be nice seeing as we're done!" she seethed, moving to help Artie up from the floor and pick up his things.

"Right. Until you call me crying in two days like every other time you've pretended you're not happy and broken up with me, right?"

She didn't look at him, she looked at Artie. At least this time he didn't shrug her hand away from his body. "I'm so sorry about him. Are you okay?"

The pain had begun to taper. What was still fresh in Artie's mind was the confusion. This certainly wasn't normal behaviour of Rachel Berry. "Yeah…" He shoved his glasses back up and watched her pick up his books. "Um, are you? Did you fall…hit your head?"

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason," he said quickly. "I gotta go."

She nodded gently, taking in his stance in case it was the last time she saw him on his feet. "You're amazing. I don't think I've ever told you that in so many words before," she smiled, "but it's true, and it was really great to see you like this."

Rachel had officially lost it. Artie scampered as fast as he possibly could.

She didn't pick up on his discomfort or suspiciously swift departure when there was something _huge_ on her mind; for instance, trying to get back to her own reality. Her parents would go ballistic if she went missing, not to mention the crippling devastation they'd surely feel from the loss.

Her journey resumed and she found herself walking the halls quickly and with purpose, her eyes carefully trained to spot Tina, fully prepared to bulldoze her way through a crowd if need be. The faces she was seeing were not Tina Cohen-Chang's, though the first truly familiar person Rachel recognised in a large crowd several minutes later made her eyes light up.

Until she saw a large cup of flavoured ice thrown in Quinn's face.

It happened in a flash. Rachel wouldn't have been able to do anything even if she wanted to. She was too far away. Her mouth slowly dropped open at the cruel act and the laughter that followed, standing immobile long enough for Quinn to turn and make a hasty exit to avoid what Rachel knew from experience would be even further embarrassment and humiliation.

The crowd began to move and Rachel kept her eyes trained on her as best she could, pushing against the sea of bodies to follow in the same direction.

When Rachel found her in the bathroom, Quinn had her eyes closed and was willing herself not to cry. It was the shock. It had happened to Rachel so many times and she knew nothing could prepare a person for the abrupt icy blow to the face. She had tried on many occasions to tell herself that it didn't hurt but she was always proven wrong. Of course it hurt. It was cold, it stung, and the humiliation made her face burn against the ice. People _laughed_ at her. How could it not hurt? People laughed at Quinn, as well.

At _Quinn_. Back in her reality, that would never happen in a million years.

Quinn huffed out a harsh breath and opened her eyes. That's when she had the second shock of her day.

Rachel Berry stood behind her, staring back at her in the mirror.

Quinn felt her face flush and she covered it with her hand, scooping off the remaining ice and flicking it down to the sink. She seemed nervous to have any sort of eye contact. "I'm sorry; I'll be out of your hair in a minute."

A small sound escaped Rachel, initially stuck for words. Her face was awash with concern when she approached. "God, what happened?"

Rachel's voice was so full of _warmth_ that Quinn didn't have a choice but to meet her eyes. Her voice was quiet —so much quieter than usual, in a tone she had never heard Rachel talk to anyone in.

"What?"

"Why would someone do this to you?"

"I'm Quinn Fabray."

Rachel leaned back against the sink, leaving a respectable distance between them considering how much the urge to hug her was twisting her stomach into knots. She was still close enough that she could tell this new and unfamiliar version of Quinn smelled the same.

"I don't understand," Rachel said seriously.

It was one of the few times Quinn had ever smiled in Rachel's presence instead of from afar when she was shamelessly eavesdropping on her conversations. The lights glared off her glasses as she shifted her weight to her other foot.

"People don't like me too much," she whispered, even halfway succeeding in injecting some humour to her tone if she may say so herself.

It was difficult for Rachel to separate Quinn from her reality to the one standing before her.

"People like who?" Rachel asked with an air of disbelief despite the evidence she'd already seen. Who would think so little of _Quinn Fabray_ that they would do this to her? It didn't make any sense.

Quinn's eyes widened when she felt the first warm touch of Rachel's hand against her face, helping to sweep the last bits of frozen slush off her face that she'd missed. It was a sudden act and so damn unexpected that Quinn nearly flinched.

"People like you."

Rachel's hand stilled. "I— that's..." She shook her head resolutely. "Insane. Crazier than the time Noah tried to convince me a man at the park was Tupac in disguise."

The weird thing was that Rachel looked sincere. She looked like she had meant every word. But the last time Quinn had been slushied Rachel had been standing behind Brittany —her best friend— and did nothing.

The lack of a response nearly knocked the wind out of Rachel. Her lips parted. The last time Quinn had been in here to clean up it had partly been because of her. The other her, anyway. Quinn probably looked exactly as cut up about it then too; like she wanted it all to stop, to be invisible for a while instead of a walking target.

Rachel felt like that sometimes too. But it made a world of difference spending more time with her friends outside of school. As sad it was, her time with Quinn helped too, even if it was kind of forced for the time being. All she'd have to do to feel better is remember that time a few weeks ago where they came undone in each other's mouths and that, however much Quinn tried to deny it, underneath all of the hostility, she had wanted her. The sprinkles would have never worked if the desire wasn't there in the first place.

Oh, god. The sleepover. She had to get back.

"I don't know what to say." Rachel was so floored by even the possibility of being cruel to Quinn, whichever realm she was in. "I'm sorry."

Quinn's entire body unravelled at that. Her back was no longer rigid, her shoulders had dropped. She looked to Rachel and gave her the beginning of what was going to be the most brilliant smile Rachel had seen in weeks until the tension came back. Quinn suddenly looked unsure, weighing up the likelihood inside her own head. When she had confirmed her suspicions, she perhaps looked more hurt than when Rachel first found her.

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Brittany put you up to this," Quinn accused. "The concern, the apology." She swallowed thickly, her voice coming out quiet. "I almost believed you."

"Wait, no, I mean it." Rachel's hand was on Quinn's arm and she didn't put on an act when it was made clear that her touch was unwanted. It stung a little bit.

"You can tell your friends whatever you want but don't lie to me."

"I wouldn't."

"Why not? You're pretty good at it." Quinn had never felt so bold in her entire life. Blood rushed through her veins and she fully anticipated a vicious string of words to be spat her way.

"What?"

"You never look more miserable than when you're with Jacob."

Maybe Rachel could play along with this. It wasn't like her skin crawling around Jacob was any different than in her reality.

"You're right," Rachel shrugged. "Which is exactly why I broke up with him a few minutes before I followed you in here."

Quinn's surprise was evident but it turned sceptical. "You would never do that."

It was wrong to tell Quinn this; Rachel knew that on some level. She knew it the second she could see Quinn begin to relax in her company. "But I did."

Quinn wasn't fully onboard. She wiped a warm, damp cloth over her face to remove the stickiness. "He's your ticket out of this town. His voice? It's amazing. You'd sooner kill the competition than have Jacob cheat on you."

Quinn could almost be certain that was a direct quote from Rachel herself at one point.

"Competition for Jacob?" Rachel smiled. "Oh my God, _who_?"

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Quinn asked glumly. "Because of what happened last week."

Playing along went out of the window. It wasn't like Rachel had any real plan anyway. 'Winging it' was a very loose definition of her intended plans to get home.

"What?"

Quinn's disappointment was misplaced because even though their private interaction could be counted on one hand and still have fingers to spare, this was the way she knew Rachel worked. If something was wrong, she ignored it. Problems didn't exist for Rachel Berry. Except for the time last week where they did and Quinn found her crying in the auditorium. They'd sat together for nearly two hours, where Rachel spilled every concern, her fear for the present and future, and all of the terrible things she had to do in order to secure it.

The Rachel Berry from that realm had never been the sort to wear her heart on her sleeve, and really, even at the time she didn't know why she was crying her heart out to _Quinn Fabray_ or why she wouldn't have done so with anyone _but_ her.

All Quinn knew after that: their first and only true exchange of words —real words, anyway— was that she couldn't be more taken by Rachel if she tried. It was embarrassing the things she would do for her, if only Rachel would ask. But never did and she never would.

Quinn knew the answer Rachel was looking for. She cleaned her glasses from a smudge and pushed them back on her face.

"Don't worry, nothing happened."

"Something clearly did. What was it?"

Quinn frowned against the sincere curiosity etched into Rachel's face. What was wrong with her?

"I told you I would never tell anybody. If I wanted to, I would have done so by now."

"Quinn." The tone was unmistakeable.

Not that she'd had the pleasure of hearing her name rolling off Rachel's tongue in that tone before —and took a second to swallow thickly because oh _God_ — but Rachel made it sound like they were as well-acquainted with each other as Quinn sometimes daydreamed they were.

"You were a little overwhelmed," Quinn said. Rachel was clearly embarrassed over what had happened and, Quinn suspected, inexperienced in being vulnerable around anybody. She needed the validation that she wasn't somehow viewed as _weak_ now. "It's high school, things get crazy. We're all scared we'll rot in this town."

Rachel couldn't believe it. Of all the realms she could have been sent to, this was the one she landed in? She was her realm's version of Quinn Fabray. She never thought she would describe herself as emotionally stunted but so far the evidence was piling up against her.

Her back straightened at Quinn's words. The idea of ever being stuck in Lima was too much to handle.

"There's no low I wouldn't sink—" Rachel cleared her throat lightly. Her voice was lighter but still solid. "I will do whatever I have to if it means getting out of this town."

There was no low that Rachel wouldn't sink to because Lima _was_ the lowest of the lows, and anything was better than growing old in that cage. But it wouldn't even be growing old. That was too much of a fairytale. No, if Rachel Berry got stuck in Lima, it would kill her.

"Like stepping all over people like me," Quinn said.

Rachel had no idea what to say. She knew what she'd like to say but she guessed it would be vastly different to the answer that the other Rachel would give and had the forethought to consider, very briefly, how this would affect Quinn. She didn't want the other version of herself to knock Quinn down again after her words built her up.

Rachel stuttered. "I-it's nothing personal. It's...survival. You understand?"

Quinn's head bobbed slowly. "It feels personal," she admitted in a breathy whisper that she hated. She hated her tears even more. "Am I supposed to survive, or... or doesn't that matter?"

Pain spread out from Rachel's heart, right across her chest and down where it disappeared in the space where her stomach used to be.

"Quinn, I'm—"

"I have to rinse my hair," came Quinn's abrupt rebuff, twisting away from Rachel to begin running the water. It didn't matter too much if she skipped that part of her routine today because most of the slushie had hit her face and sweater anyway. It was simply an excuse not to talk to Rachel anymore.

Rachel's hand was warm wrapped around Quinn's wrist as she pulled on her arm, turning her around. The soft leather of her shoes creased over the tops as she rose up on her toes and gently pressed her mouth to Quinn's.

Her dark eyes were bursting with sincerity when they fluttered open.

"It matters."

X

Quinn walked past Sue Sylvester hugging Lauren Zizes and felt her face contort for a moment. Then she saw Finn down the hallway, sporting his usual red letterman jacket, and increased her pace. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been relieved to see him.

"Finn!"

He turned and searched until his eyes fell on fast-approaching Quinn Fabray. He made a valiant attempt not to wince. Finn couldn't imagine what she wanted from him but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"How's it going?" he asked casually, searching inside his head for her name. It was on the tip of his tongue, really.

"Where's Rachel?"

Finn looked on blankly. "Rachel, who?"

Quinn's palm faced towards him. "I'm not in the mood for games. Have you seen her or not? Is she acting differently?"

"I don't know who that is, so..."

"Rachel Berry," Quinn enunciated carefully. "You are not this dense. She's in Glee Club with you. She's the one you stare at."

"Glee Club?" Finn echoed.

"There's no Glee here?"

As soon as that was confirmed, Quinn resumed her journey around the school. She'd been to seven realms so far, each one being more ridiculous than the last. The last three hadn't had Rachel in or around the locations they'd been sent to at all. It felt like they'd been searching for days.

"Rachel!"

Quinn's frustration mounted the more times her call went unanswered. In their realm, all she'd have to do is think of Rachel and she'd be there like some sort of mind reader. Why couldn't it work now?

Someone was smirking at her from their locker. Quinn was over there in a flash. "What?" she demanded of him.

Brett cowered but a lazy laugh fell from his lips. "Nothing."

"You're laughing. Why don't you share the joke?"

"You look vanilla, that's all." He laughed again.

Quinn didn't know what he meant by that and she didn't care. His eyes were bloodshot but maybe he could still be of some use to her. "Have you seen Rachel Berry today?" His eyes glazed over and so Quinn slugged him in the chest. "Stay with me, Brett. Rachel; have you seen her?"

Brett perked up, eyes lethargically meeting Quinn's. A smile revealed his teeth. "Yeah."

"Yeah? Where?"

"Heading to the bathroom," he answered. "Yeah, the bathroom. This bathroom." His index finger angled towards the floor, looking pleased with himself.

Quinn told him to have a nice trip, which was sort of like a thank you because she meant it. She burst into the bathroom at the end of the hallway so hard that the door slammed back into her arm.

Her heart skipped all over the place at the first sight of Rachel but settled when she realised that it was that realm's version of her. This Rachel had black hair and emitted an unfamiliar attitude from her body language alone.

After her eyes took a leisurely journey down the body in front of her, Rachel's giggle echoed a little. "Oh, god, is it Halloween?"

Quinn stood straighter, defensive. "What?"

Rachel bounced over, letting her tongue creep out to play with the hoop shoved through her bottom lip. God, this was something else. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Quinn blonde.

Rachel closed the distance and put her hands on Quinn's head, ruffling the soft blonde hair. "Where's my cotton candy? You know it's my favourite."

"What?" Quinn's voice was quiet because Rachel was wearing black boots that came up mid-calf, sending her a few inches taller as she gave Quinn a look that Quinn hadn't seen since the night they spent together, like she was about to devour her.

"Not that this isn't a pleasant surprise," Rachel was fast to say, her hands slipping down to the curve of Quinn's hips. "You just look so innocent and uptight that I could swear you're a different person."

"Maybe I am," Quinn said bluntly, removing Rachel's hands from her body and turning away.

Quinn was awkwardly —and painfully, but only for a second— pushed against the wall and the edge of the paper towel dispenser. The surprise of Rachel's burst of strength didn't show outwardly.

"Are you still mad at me about last night, because I told you I didn't mean it the way you obviously took it," Rachel said, following the sharp line of Quinn's jaw with the pads of her fingers.

Quinn leaned away from the touch only to be met with the wall. She pushed back harder, just in case her head was like a cannonball and she was stationed at one of the weaker foundations.

"Is that an apology?" Quinn sneered.

Rachel smiled faintly, pushing forward to smell Quinn's hair. Her eyes fell shut. It smelled as sweet as ever. The pink hair was her favourite colour because it matched its scent.

"The only one you know I can give."

"Maybe you should try harder."

There was a faint sigh but then Rachel's lips brushed Quinn's ear. "I really didn't mean it."

Quinn wondered, just for a second, what kind of relationship this realm's version of herself and Rachel had. She wondered if they had fun destroying each other one minute only to make each other fly the next, if they were madly in love and wanted everyone to know it or if this was more of a private affair.

"You know how my mouth runs away and drags me with it," Rachel continued, her head dropped to Quinn's shoulder.

That hit Quinn without warning.

God, Rachel's mouth made everything better and worse in both realms.

Quinn didn't touch her. She couldn't even look at her. "Where are you?"

The tables were turned swiftly. Rachel's hand gently cupped the side of Quinn's head and pressed their bodies together. It was contrast to how firm and certain her voice was.

"I'm right here. Okay? As long as we both need, remember?" And then Rachel's lips kissed Quinn's cheek, just once, and hovered there. "Be mad at me, but don't be upset with me. I can't stand it when I know I've hurt..."

"Okay."

"Can I— are you too mad for a kiss?" Rachel asked.

Quinn thought about saying yes. She didn't know what Rachel had done to upset that realm's version of herself but if Rachel was concerned then maybe it _was_ bad enough to deny a kiss.

But she wasn't thinking about the different Rachel and Quinn or the way her heart rate had picked up as soon as a soft mouth touched her skin, she was thinking of the only Rachel she knew —and if she was honest, didn't really know all that well but some, and some was enough— and herself; the teenage girl with enough issues to sink the titanic. It would be a bad idea to even entertain the thought of going there, of letting Rachel kiss her again. Being with her again.

Wouldn't it?

Quinn imagined the body against hers was a different one, and answered honestly.

"I don't know."

Rachel moved away from Quinn, giving her the space she wanted. "You still want to skip gym with me? There's no point screwing up our perfect zero per cent attendance this late in the semester. I have another song I want you to hear me sing anyway, so you could bring your guitar and meet me by your car so we can go somewhere."

"I can't hang out," Quinn started to say, her eyes actively avoiding Rachel. "I have something I need to do."

Rachel's face turned unreadable and her eyes were neither warm nor cold, they were steady. "After."

Quinn nodded because she didn't know if it was a question or a demand, and also because she didn't know what else to say. Rachel held the door open for her and they walked out to the empty hallway together.

Quinn idly wondered where Tina had got to.

"I'll call you," Rachel said, leaning to the side and bending slightly at the knees so that she could turn her head and connect her lips to Quinn's neck on her way past.

She only got four steps away when she stopped abruptly, eyes as wide as they'd never been before. Rachel whirled around to take another look, turning back just as quickly.

Quinn was behind her, yet, just as certainly, Quinn was in front of her with pink hair. Her favourite.

The Quinn with pink hair moved towards her girlfriend. "What was that, and _who_ is that?" she asked, punctuating it with an acerbic tone.

The blaze swirling around in those eyes added to Rachel's dizziness. "I— it was— you!" she eventually stammered out, very uncharacteristically. "Quinn, it was _you_!"

Quinn who had no place in that realm or interfering in whatever relationship they had, swallowed heavily. This wasn't good. It was made worse by Rachel stepping out of the way so that she and the other Quinn were in each other's direct line of sight.

God, she looked ridiculous with pink hair.

Rachel's heart thumped away inside her chest. Did Quinn have a twin that she didn't know about? But no, that wasn't right. It wasn't Quinn's _twin_ she was with just now. There hadn't been a single difference about them. It was literally her.

Rachel looked at the blonde Quinn harder. She looked nervous; terrified, even, as she looked back into identical eyes. The only time Rachel could recall Quinn ever looking close to that had been a year ago when their shared issues on top of one of her fathers getting sick made Rachel push her away and end the functioning dysfunction of their relationship. For all of several hours, anyway. Until she couldn't breathe through her sobs and knew that there was only one person who could make it stop.

"Who the hell are you?" was demanded of the blonde freak show by her double. "Why do you look like that?"

Quinn's entire body felt heavy. How was she supposed to entertain the idea of running away when she couldn't even lift a foot off the ground? Rachel's kiss had dried against her skin by that point but it didn't seem to matter to the girl slowly but surely closing the distance between them.

"I'm..." God, should she say it? It wouldn't be easy to hear or live with.

"Who? Spit it out," the Quinn sporting pink hair demanded, sounding more intimidating than the blonde could remember herself sounding back home. No wonder people fell over themselves for her.

Rachel's face was the last thing Quinn saw before she proved herself wrong and took off running down the halls with her double chasing her. She felt the same kind of adrenaline rushing through her veins as she did in the nightmares where someone was trying to kill her.

"Tina!" Quinn called out frantically when she felt that uncomfortable prickle against her skin informing her that she was about to be caught.

There was a hand on her shoulder, fingers digging in painfully. She braced herself for the violence sure to come, but then she was no longer running or even in the hallway. Quinn's breath came out in heavy pants and placed both hands against her stomach as she leaned forward, trying to inhale evenly. The only other person there was Tina. They were in an empty school cafeteria now.

Tina watched Quinn fall apart with some guilt settled in her stomach. "Are you—"

"What do you think?" Quinn asked sharply.

Whatever sarcastic retort was on the tip of Tina's tongue disappeared when she saw her visibly shaking. Tina's hand rubbed over Quinn's back until she felt her stiffen, which wasn't long after. Instead she sat on the edge of a table and swung her legs out, waiting patiently.

"It's weird seeing yourself for the first time," Tina commented. "It takes a few times to adjust, but you'll get there."

"I thought she was going to gut me," Quinn said after a long while, going to sit beside Tina on the table now that her hysteria was fading. She imagined the look on her face when she'd seen the other Quinn and, much to both of their surprise, she laughed. "God."

When Tina's smile fell away, so did her gaze. It went far away in a memory until it was over and then flickered back to Quinn. "She talks about you."

Quinn's hands were folded neatly in her lap, sitting primly; the way she'd been taught.

"Not all the time, you'll be glad to know," Tina continued. "Or maybe not, who knows. But you'd be an idiot not to know that Rachel wouldn't give a second thought to searching for you if the roles were reversed."

Quinn nodded after a second, swallowing reflexively. "I know."

X

All it took for Rachel was to see the blossoming smile on Quinn's face following their kiss to lean back in for another.

That was minutes ago.

It was hardly the perfect setting but neither of them cared too much when they'd moved to the privacy of one of the stalls. In both realms, Quinn was a fantastic kisser and Rachel happily postponed her mission of finding Tina in favour of having this experience with Quinn again; their bodies pushed together as they kissed like it somehow wasn't the first time. With Quinn's lithe frame moulded to her own, lips sliding together with ease and passion, it was so easy to overlook the small details like the less confident way in which Quinn's hands were positioned on Rachel's body or how she was a little more receptive to letting her lead the pace, never moving her hands or mouth anywhere that Rachel hadn't done to her first.

"I can't believe you're kissing me," Rachel gasped when their mouths separated for longer than a moment.

Quinn didn't want to ruin the mood to tell her that she couldn't believe Rachel _wanted_ to be kissed by her, so she settled for taking her hips instead, conscious of the fact that she needed to be less hesitant when Rachel even _allowed_ her to hold their bodies together. Quinn took them more firmly and leaned back in, opening her mouth to Rachel. The firmer hold gave Quinn something to ground herself with, and the memory, questionable location and all, would be seared to her memory for those days where she could hardly find the strength to get out of bed.

A part of her had already resigned herself to the certain truth of this being a one-time thing, of the possibility of Rachel Berry never looking in her direction for the rest of the year. And if that was the case, well, then Quinn was going to enjoy every single second of it.

Rachel dragged her mouth over Quinn's neck while her hand journeyed down her body until it was under a snowman sweater and sliding over silky, warm skin.

Quinn's breath caught in her throat and Rachel sobered like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her.

This wasn't Quinn. Not really. It wasn't the one she had been drawn to for the better part of the past three years. This was some sweet, innocent version of Quinn Fabray that Rachel could be just as taken with in another lifetime.

But it wasn't right.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said as she pulled away, sounding completely lost.

God, what was she doing?

Quinn's breath hitched softly in her throat when Rachel pulled her hand out from under her sweater, skimming over a particular sensitive area. She shook her head and lightly cleared her throat.

"Don't be. That was…"

Quinn let go of Rachel when she saw her face. It looked more panicked than when she found her in the auditorium last week and she'd cried a river. Quinn didn't ever want to be the cause of that kind of expression.

"I won't tell," Quinn added hastily. "I promise."

Rachel had to leave. She had to get out of that web before she was stuck. But she couldn't leave that Quinn so abruptly, not without _something_ to hold on to.

"Do you believe in magic?" Rachel found herself asking. Blurting, really. "That's not— I mean, I'm not trying to use a line, because they're usually so tasteless and I prefer... but, do you? Honestly?"

Quinn remained against the door as Rachel put some distance between them. "You mean like David Blaine?"

"No, I mean real magic. Spells, potions, unfortunately cursed sprinkles on top of a delicious Bundt cake, if I may say so myself."

Rachel thought it was kind of cute when Quinn's fingers carefully pressed against different parts of her scalp.

"Did you hit your head when we burst in here?"

"You'll think so in a minute," Rachel said. "Have you ever thought you'd sound honest-to-God crazy if you said something out loud?"

"Who hasn't?" It'd happened recently. Very recently. A fleeting thought had passed through Quinn's mind during their kisses that was definitely crazy enough to admit herself in for a psychological evaluation.

The way Rachel kissed her… it was almost familiar. Almost, though admittedly not completely. As much as her body heated and responded just now, there wasn't quite as much passion as she could recall from the last time she was kissed.

"What was it?"

Quinn's face flared back up. She glanced down to the floor and breathed out a laugh at a memory. It had been several weeks ago. Sometimes things would quieten down at school. There would be a transfer student; a new target for people to pick on, or a Cheerio would get herself knocked up. But sometimes Quinn thought she hated the quiet more because it always gave her a tiny sense of hope that they had forgotten about her. They never did.

It was a Friday afternoon when she broke.

She'd had one of the roughest weeks she could ever remember. They were _merciless_. It wasn't just one or two slushies a day. It was the constant emotional and physical abuse. Quinn had bruises hidden under her clothes from being shoved into lockers and the one time someone she didn't even really know —an intimidating girl named Mercedes who sometimes hung around with Brittany and Rachel— shouldered her so hard that Quinn slammed against a locker and then to the ground.

A heavy boot collided with the small of Quinn's back and there was nothing to disguise the cry that left her mouth as anything but agony.

"Sorry," Mercedes had said, helping Quinn to turn to her other side. "Thought you were somebody else."

People walked by and stared and Quinn's face burned at that sort of attention. They just _watched_. She thought it was the end because Mercedes had been moving away from her and that usually meant it was over, except Mercedes drove her leg forward once more, slamming her foot into Quinn's side. It forced the air from her lungs.

Then she was there again, leaning close to Quinn.

"No, really, I am so sorry."

She looked so flippant and her tone was so sickeningly sweet that Quinn finally, and for the first time in her life, wanted to punch someone. She had fled to the closest bathroom and sobbed, didn't even stop when she heard someone else walk in. Whoever it was, they didn't leave right away. She saw black flats stop in front of the stall door. It didn't give away their identity because almost every girl at that damn school had worn them on at least one occasion.

There was a party flyer inside her locker by the end of the day. It was to be the biggest Halloween party in five years, hosted at the Berry residence.

Berry, as in Rachel Berry. The most popular girl at school.

Quinn had seen the flyers all over the school for weeks. It was a joke she'd been invited. Probably a prank. She wouldn't go.

Over the weekend, she changed her mind. It would be a test. She'd dress up (as the flyer stated that admittance would not be permitted unless the attendee was in costume) and see how people acted towards her and the geek squad —Quinn Fabray, Artie Abrams, and Mike Chang when their identities were hidden. At the very least, she would throw her drink over someone. At the very, very least, she would make Artie do it. He was a faster runner than her, and one of the only two people she could call her friends.

Quinn thought about her revenge at least twelve times a day. Double by the time Friday rolled around again.

She dressed up as generic as she could, except instead of painting on her clown's face Quinn brought one of the creepiest latex over-the-head masks she could find online.

The party was bigger than she'd expected. There were so many people at Rachel's house that Quinn felt dizzy just standing across the street. They all hated her. It would be like willingly offering herself up for slaughter; Carrie all over again. But this was a test and she could hardly get an accurate conclusion out there.

People spoke to her. _Complimented_ her. They questioned Quinn eagerly on who she was underneath the mask, to which she tapped her nose coyly and managed to impress people all the more with how creepy it looked.

Quinn knew how parties worked. She'd done her research. Her first and second drinks were Cokes but when it was time for her third, she decided to mix an alcoholic one. Maybe that would be the magic cure to the party not sucking so much. Sure, people talked to her, but they didn't have anything interesting to say. So far, anyway. Maybe there were people in the living room with similar interests. Artie was there the last time she'd seen him. Quinn slowly made her way through the house. The air smelled like a mixture of beer, sweat and cologne or perfume, getting thicker the closer she got to the living room.

It was going to happen sooner or later.

Someone bumped into her and managed to spill what smelled like a Malibu and Coke half over them both. Quinn's mask was grinning with sharp, hideous teeth bared wide. Underneath it, she wasn't looking so amused. Her head inclined to the side.

Mercedes took one look at her and rage broke through the surface shockingly fast. It was the costume. She had never seen anything so fucking _creepy_ in her entire life. The wispy red hair and miniature black top hat made it ten times worse.

"Damn it, Santana, you know I hate clowns!"

It was so hot with the mask on and Quinn smiled in spite of barely being able to breathe. She raised her arm and moved her hand in a slow wave.

Quinn found it difficult not to notice the living dead zombie squeezing in beside Mercedes. It was one of the more impressive costumes she had seen. The mask was obviously not cheap and any exposed skin had been painted a deathly shade.

Mercedes rolled her eyes and pushed forward, pushing at Quinn's shoulder. "Oh, get out of my way. Momma needs another drink."

Quinn's straw fell out when her drink sloshed up, a small splash bouncing off her hand wrapped around the red cup. She hesitated for only a second, twisting around to call out, "You want mine?"

The music was so loud and Quinn's voice never carried much force behind it but before Mercedes could question her on why Santana sounded so different all of a sudden, a lukewarm concoction of vodka and cranberry juice painted her face.

Quinn didn't even drop the cup. She raced up the stairs so fast that she tripped, oblivious to the zombie watching her.

It was by no means a small miracle that the bedroom she burst into wasn't occupied, or worse, Rachel's. The en-suite had two shelves, both filled with male toiletries and aftershave. Quinn slammed the door shut behind her and dropped the empty red cup in the sink as she gripped it, breathing heavily. She was well-aware of her impending death.

"Oh, God, oh, God. What did I do? She'll kill me."

And she'd gone and ran to the roof, so to speak. She was a fool.

Quinn didn't know what to do first. Compose a text message to her parents telling them how much she loved them, or vomit.

Her hands blindly reached up and grabbed at the mask so hard that she pulled her hair when it was wrenched off her head. Her face was damp and Quinn licked her dry lips, dropping the weighty mask on the counter as she filled the cup with water.

Quinn gulped the cold liquid down gratefully and let her eyes fall shut, so completely distracted with worst case scenarios that she didn't hear anyone else enter the bathroom. Mercedes and backup would probably thunder up the stairs any second and beat the stuffing out of her.

It was worth it though, Quinn thought. The look on Mercedes face would stay with her forever, as would, unfortunately, a couple of their other interactions. Quinn's mouth tightened. She hated the bitch.

Her eyes shot open when she felt someone press against her side. She let out a startled gasp at the unexpected sight of a _zombie_ in the mirror behind her but then the sound of running water met her ears before there was a cool, damp washcloth on the back of her neck and, well, Quinn didn't know what the hell to do.

It was okay though, because then she was turned around and the cloth was reversed and pressed to her face. It didn't take a genius to know that it was tinged pink. If not only because of the attention, then the fear of what Mercedes would do to her.

Quinn looked at the zombie's eyes, the only part of her face not covered except for a small hole in the mouth. They were a rich brown; kind of beautiful, really. She was distracted by them long enough to be unsuspecting when wrapped up in a hug.

It was awkward in the way that she wasn't ready and that people just _didn't_ ever hug her unless it was her parents. When she decided that being shivved in the back was highly unlikely given that this zombie was friendly (who knew?), Quinn straightened up and hesitantly put her arms around the girl's back. The circumstances felt strange but it seemed like the right thing to do. If the short stature and small hands didn't give her away, the breasts did. It was difficult to ignore when they were pressed against her own chest.

The breath against Quinn's neck was soft.

Quinn watched with rapt attention as the zombie mask was grasped below the girl's neckline and pulled upward. She wasn't given much time to process anything but she knew that the mask hadn't revealed the girl's identity; just her mouth.

Maybe she needed some water too.

"A-are you thirsty?" Quinn twisted to refill the cup. "It's so hot under one of those."

She halted at the hand on her arm and that was enough for it to retreat from her skin. A thumb stroked over her bottom lip next, and if that hadn't short-circuited Quinn's brain, the unfamiliar pressure of warm lips against her own had.

It was over too soon. The cup dropped to the floor and Quinn didn't know where to focus her attention. It was darting back and forth to the wall and the girl, forehead contorted in question.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.

Nobody had ever wanted to kiss her before. The only person who had ever shown an interest was some boy who answered to the name of Finn Hudson, and it had only happened once. She'd missed the bus and the only person hovering around the otherwise empty stop was the school loner and his large duffel bag that he carried everywhere. The only words he had ever spoken to her had been something about finally fixing the tyre on his bicycle and the epic bike ride he was going to go on at the weekend, and "wanna go out with me?" Quinn had never been more grateful to see the bus driver when he pulled up a moment later.

Quinn's eyes followed the girl's and looked down to their hands joining. "Are you new at school?" she asked. The girl lifted her head, and then shook it. "Do you know... who I am?"

A nod.

Quinn was lead to the bedroom. It was the weirdest thing to happen that night, and that was saying something. She put a stop to the hands going around her head, wrapping her fingers around a small wrist. "What are you doing? Who are you?"

Quinn didn't get a verbal response but she did get a soft kiss to the underside of her jaw. A black tie covered her eyes and was tied at the back of her head. She had three fingers underneath it, about to tug down when they were covered and gently pulled away. Inconceivably, Quinn wasn't afraid. She just wanted to know what was going on and if this was going to be a prank. It didn't feel like one, she decided the longer she stood there. So she waited.

The swell of impossibility deflated with Quinn standing there so open and vulnerable. She looked so different without glasses but the sight had evoked the same response in the bathroom; the burning desire to be with her.

The zombie mask was calmly pulled over her head and dropped to the ground.

Rachel swept the hair from her face and kissed Quinn simply; softly. She could feel a pleasantly surprised smile on Quinn's mouth shortly after and was happy to know that she didn't find being kissed by a stranger weird enough to put a stop to it. Some people would, herself included.

"This is—" Quinn returned a kiss. "Great but, are you… are you sure you want to be doing this with me?"

Rachel couldn't speak and give her identity away, but she didn't need to. She kissed her again, cupping the back of her neck. Inviting Quinn to the party was not her intent when she allowed Brittany to talk her into opening her home to the downright messy young adults of McKinley in the first place, but something about the way she'd seen her hurrying towards a bathroom with tears streaked down her face, for reasons Rachel still didn't know, caused her to slip the flyer into a locker she probably shouldn't have known the location to in the first place.

Rachel pressed closer, the warm softness of Quinn's mouth and the hands carefully positioned at her waist providing a subtle persuasion towards slowly guiding their kisses less shallow. Kissing Quinn, _really_ kissing her, was better than Rachel imagined it to be when she would glance towards her mouth during class sometimes when she was sure nobody was looking. For someone who hadn't kissed much, Quinn was a wonderful kisser. Stationary hands shifted lower to frame her hips instead, and Rachel's response of kissing her harder produced a sound from Quinn's throat that drove her wild.

Their lips separated and Rachel remained close, eyes closed. When she finally did pull away and step back, it was reluctantly. Quinn's profile was so beautiful as she looked at her. She wanted to stay there all night and make-out until her lips were sore, but there was no way she could. Someone would notice she was missing soon.

She just had to do that once. Rachel wasn't sure what would have kept her from following Quinn upstairs, if anything.

Rachel knew she had to leave but she still laughed when the previously gentle hands tightened abruptly to grip her hips and pull her back in for a kiss. She was helpless to return it, and once the playfulness and smiles wore off, Rachel gradually forgot about leaving and opened her mouth to Quinn for a series of kisses and modest exploration under a white blouse that had her re-joining the party downstairs twenty minutes later thoroughly ruined, unable to think about much else than when the house would be empty and she could relieve the throbbing tension between her legs.

Rachel had worked Quinn up to a flushed face, heavier breaths and sounds she kept trying to trap in her throat, and when Rachel pulled away again, Quinn had held on to her forearm.

"You have to go?" When Quinn realised that the reason she couldn't see was purely because her secret admirer wanted to remain anonymous, she understood that a verbal response would not be forthcoming. "Um, kiss… kiss me once for no, a-and a hundred times for yes."

Rachel did her best.

Starring in a handful of productions at the local theatre and being a member of the most popular performing arts program in school allowed her to be able to completely change her look within a short space of time. Minutes after leaving the bedroom with Quinn inside, she darted to her own room and threw the two people out of hers before she had chance to really see their faces and imagine what they'd been using it for. Rachel changed her entire costume, scrubbing the new make-up from her skin and switching to her second-choice outfit of the night —a witch— in record time. It was perhaps overdone but not any more than any of the other costumes in the sea of people down there. It was classic and she made it look sexy.

A little while later, pre-occupied with how slow time seemed to be going and how irritating all of those people suddenly were, Rachel almost missed the sight of a hideous clown trying to sneak its way through the house. She shrugged Jacob's arm off of her and made her way through the kitchen until she was outside, following behind on the path leading towards the front of the house. It was just the two of them there.

"Hey," she called out. She smiled when Quinn walked faster, and sped up a little. "Relative of Pennywise." Rachel watched her stop and turn with some hesitance, like she'd be in trouble. "You're scary as shit."

"Thanks."

Rachel nodded and then gestured to the mask. "I didn't see you at the door. Are you going to take that off so I can see who beat everyone else to Best Costume?"

Quinn pulled the mask off without even thinking to disguise herself. She looked worried. "I—I got a flyer. Someone invited me. It's in my glove box. Do you want me to get it?" Quinn stuffed her hand inside the tight pocket of her pants for her keys. "I'll get it."

Rachel took the keys right from her fingers. "Are you drunk?"

"No."

"That's what every drunk person says."

"I'm not drunk," Quinn rebuffed. "I had one sip and then I— spilled it. By accident."

Rachel could still see that accident clearly. She looked Quinn right in the eyes. "Do you drink much?"

"No."

"I'm not letting you drive. Even a small amount of alcohol affects your ability to drive safely. Do you think I'm in the position to chance bad karma this year?"

Quinn's head shook instantly, even if she didn't know how the hell she would get home now. She didn't bring any money and she couldn't tell her _parents_ she was at a party with alcohol and to pick her up. Grounded wouldn't even come close. At least Rachel was talking to her. One might even go as far as to say she was being nice. Rachel didn't want her dead for sort of crashing the party, at least. That was something.

And she had maybe unintentionally referred to their talk in the auditorium.

Quinn might have been over the moon about any of that if she didn't feel so much misplaced guilt, like the feelings she'd harboured for Rachel for so long weren't cheapened by the most amazing kisses of her life. They weren't together, Quinn hadn't cheated on her.

But she felt like she had.

Her body bristled. She had to find Artie or Mike so they could snap her out of it. "I'll walk," Quinn said.

"Is your house far?"

"It's okay."

Someone dropped a bottle behind them, on the patio by the sounds of it, and Rachel turned to the sound of shattered glass. She glanced towards one of the kitchen windows to see the party inside. If she was fast, she could probably play off another disappearance without too many questions. But that would also mean any time alone with Quinn would be over just as quickly. Quinn was watching her when she turned back. "You haven't asked me what prize you won."

"What?"

"Your prize," Rachel repeated with a shy smile masked by darkness this time.

Quinn's brows lifted higher. "Oh. Um, what is it?"

"You get to stay and help me clean up."

There was a beat, and then, "That's a prize?"

The darkness did nothing to conceal Rachel's chuckle. "Are you serious? It's the best prize, come on. Number one," she insisted. It was a prize indeed. For her, anyway. She'd had to suffer having a houseful of drunk teenagers, the only way she wouldn't want to scream when cleaning up the mess would be if Quinn was there. But that was supposed to be a secret. "What do you say? You'll be sober enough to drive by that point, and then you won't have to pretend that you don't hate me when I've been awful to you."

Quinn began to smile at the possibility of them hanging out alone. "Okay," she agreed. Her mask was wrapped firmly in her palm as she stepped towards her, the wispy red hair brushing Rachel's hand when they were close enough. "I'm not a good liar," Quinn said, raising her arms to pull the mask over her head, concealing her face from one partygoer in particular. Mercedes would have her for breakfast every day for the rest of the year if she wasn't careful to keep her identity secret. She looked at Rachel as they headed back towards the back yard. "I don't hate you."

The spine-tingling mask couldn't even take away from the warmth Rachel felt. It was only smothered by shame. "You should."

Back at the school and story time over in the bathroom stall, Quinn pulled at her snowman sweater. She felt somewhat awkward at having shared her story. It'd been such a strange night. Stranger than today was turning out.

"Mercedes didn't find me again. Obviously. I mean, I'm still here, so."

"I'm glad."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

Rachel sighed, giving Quinn an appreciative smile. "Of course I do. Who wouldn't want to kiss you?" She poked Quinn in the stomach when she lifted an eyebrow. "Most losers don't get blindfolded and kissed into a coma by a stranger, you know? That should tell you something."

Quinn laughed a little breathlessly. Both kisses had pretty much blown her mind, but there was something about the way that stranger had kissed her in the bedroom. The way things had escalated helped, too. The hands on her skin had made her body flare.

"It wasn't in a coma. I was...dazed."

"Oh, _dazed_."

"You would have been too."

Rachel smiled. Some of Quinn's kisses had had that effect on her. "Your story is much more believable than mine. You could add a dragon and it would still—" She stopped talking when she saw Quinn looking at her with such a soft look on her face that she had to remind herself to focus. "Do you believe in magic?"

"I don't know." It wasn't something she had ever seriously considered.

"Could you pretend that you do?" Quinn nodded. "Do I seem different to you? I mean, the way I'm acting."

Quinn couldn't help the visible amusement. As if her Rachel Berry would kiss her in a bathroom. Or at all. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Okay, really different," she nodded.

Rachel took a deep breath. How was Tina still alive after telling all her friends? This was like murder on her nerves. "My friend is a witch." Her hand was against Quinn's arm. "And I'm not crazy or here to hurt anybody. I was sent by accident. I'm from a different realm; one where I can't even imagine liking anyone else the way I like you."

Quinn looked painfully confused.

"I know how it sounds but I swear, I'm not making this up," Rachel said. "In my world, I'm the loser and you're... well, you're Quinn Fabray. Captain of the Cheerios. You're the most popular girl in school. People either want you or want to be you."

"No," Quinn said with a grin after a pregnant pause. "Really?" Rachel nodded, and Quinn rested her weight on one foot. "Am I nice to you?"

"Usually only when you have cake."

Quinn winced. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I don't like to think about you like that."

"So you believe me?" Rachel asked, hopeful.

"You believed me."

The relief rushed through her. "We need to find Tina Cohen-Chang —that's my friend— so I can get back. If I get too caught up here, there's a chance that I'll... Could you help me?" Rachel didn't want to frighten her with the possibility of getting stuck there.

Quinn nodded, running her tongue over her lips. At once, an idea hit her so hard that she grabbed on to Rachel's arm. "Wait."

"Why?"

"There is another option."

"What?"

"Stay. Maybe just for a little while. You're the most popular girl in school; you can do anything you want and no-one will be mean. And we can hang out," Quinn said, her voice tinged with hope. So much so that Rachel struggled with her response.

"I can't."

"Why not? You said the other me is a bitch."

Rachel had no control over the defensive frown that crossed over her face but managed to keep her voice light. "She's challenging, that doesn't mean I think she's a bitch."

It was hardly a secret that Quinn's attitude and behaviour was, oftentimes, appalling. But it wasn't just with Rachel Berry. No, Quinn didn't discriminate anyone from her wrath. The only thing that Rachel was absolutely, one-hundred per cent singled out for was the way she was looked at sometimes without knowing. The way she was thought about when Quinn was too exhausted to block them out any longer or turn them into something else.

Even without really truly knowing her, Quinn knew that nothing with Rachel Berry was ever easy, and that was the way it was always going to be.

One of Rachel's flaws was her ability forgive anyone almost anything. The fact was, she should think of Quinn as a bitch. Besides when she was cursed into it, Quinn generally treated her poorly. It didn't matter the way she _thought_ about Rachel. Rachel wasn't a mind reader.

"I'd never treat you like that," this Quinn said imploringly. "We could figure out a way to keep you and the other Rachel from ever crossing—"

"What would I do? Where would I stay?"

Quinn's response got stuck in her throat. When she finally voiced it, it had lost its confidence and persuasion. "With me." She sighed at the look adorning Rachel's face. "We can work out the kinks."

"There are two me's. Pretty big kink to iron out."

"But—"

"Do you like me?" Rachel broke in. "The other me."

Quinn's coloured cheeks answered that question. "She doesn't feel the same, so what does it matter?"

"Tina told me something once. She said that other realm's versions of us are exactly who we are, just a little altered because of different choices and opportunities afforded to us. Different facets of our personality are heightened," Rachel explained. "I would never bully you, but I'm selfish. I can admit that. Just like your Rachel, I would do anything to get out of this town. And the Quinn I got a glimpse of once, my Quinn, she was just like you. Soft and sweet."

"But I'm still stuck here," Quinn said. "With no-one."

"That's not true."

It wasn't true. She had two friends who were good to her but she was lonely and this Rachel, in hardly any time at all, had given her everything she dreamed _her_ Rachel would, and without hesitation.

"You're a smart girl, Quinn," Rachel added. "Think about what I just told you."

"You're selfish?"

Rachel smiled patiently. "I like every side to you that I've seen. If I feel that way, so does your Rachel."

Quinn's eyes dimmed as if she'd been built up and let down. "You don't know her."

"I don't think there's anyone who knows her better than me. Talk to her, you might be surprised."

"What would I say? Who knows if we even have anything in common? She barely talked to me when I stayed for hours to clean up her house. All she did was look over at me like I was going to slip the silver into my purse and then pretended like she was glancing around. I'm not an idiot."

It was clear to Rachel now.

She may differ from that realm's version of herself, but inviting Quinn to stay and clean up after a party meant alone time. It was calculated. Add in the supposed breakdown in the auditorium and how she didn't demand Quinn to get out of her house, Rachel would have bet her college fund that the other Rachel had been a zombie for her party.

"Tell her someone kissed you at the party," Rachel dared. "Tell her you can't stop thinking about it."

"She's not going to want to hear about that."

"Trust me."

It wasn't enough to convince Quinn but Rachel would have to work on that later. Time was running out. She had to find Tina.


	2. II

Quinn sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

At this point, she and Tina had travelled to dozens of realms with no results. She was exhausted felt as though she was rapidly approaching a mood so foul that she would have the power to reduce people to dust if she chose to.

The last realm she'd visited, she spent a good portion of her time shrugging off Finn Hudson's advances. He wasn't quite annoying in that realm, had actually been sort of sweet in an unassuming way, but he wasn't even a blip on her radar. She didn't even find that realm's Rachel. Tina appeared out of nowhere and told her that Rachel wasn't there, so they moved on.

Now they were… in the same building but in a different reality. It hurt Quinn's head to think about.

She walked through the halls and several people smiled or greeted her as she passed. Not quite the attention she got at home in her realm, but at least she wasn't a complete loser. Her eyes moved searchingly as she walked, looking for any sign of the Rachel she knew best. There were large posters on the wall, an eye-catching neon yellow to advertise an upcoming dance. Cheerios were among a small group of girls and guys on the poster but, she was relieved to find out, she was not part of it.

Ever since nearly getting caught by what was clearly a version of herself with homicidal tendencies, Quinn was also keeping a keen eye out for herself. Any sign of another Quinn Fabray, she was out of there.

Quinn was so busy looking in front of her that she didn't hear the quickened tread coming up behind her. She felt a slap to her ass and someone latch onto her elbow as they struggled to slow down.

"Hey," Rachel laughed, mostly at the surprised expression staring back at her. "Where have you been? I was looking for you."

Quinn looked so serious all of a sudden, and she saw the amusement slowly die off on Rachel's face. "Rachel?" she dared to ask.

"Quinn?" There was a sudden mischievous sparkle to her eyes.

The moment was over.

Quinn sighed heavily and walked forward with a Rachel Berry attached to her arm. "This is really starting to piss me off," she complained.

"Academic obligations other than Glee? Me too."

"You chose to join that club," she pointed out, still looking around for the real Rachel.

"The music chose me, Quinn."

"Right."

Rachel awkwardly jutted her hips sideways but the desired result of sending Quinn unstable enough to brace herself on a row of lockers was still achieved. She began to turn the dial on her locker to return a heavy textbook she no longer required. "Like the way acting chose you and how you can fool anyone into thinking you're this huge bitch when you're the complete opposite. Most of the time," Rachel added with a sideways smirk at the arched brow. "Shut up, I'm allowed to say that. Just like I'm allowed to ask what's wrong and get a real answer without you keeping everything to yourself."

Quinn swallowed hard. "Nothing's wrong."

"You're spacey. You almost walked right past my locker. And," she stressed, "you didn't slap my butt. back"

The look Rachel gave her next was soft and curious; enough to make Quinn feel sufficiently obligated to share what was on her mind, only she couldn't. She felt an unidentifiable sensation grip her chest and she hated it. The tinny rattle of a locker door being closed met her ears.

"Is it your Dad?" Rachel pressed. "Is he pressuring you about grades again? Do I need to suit up for a fight?"

"It's not him."

"Then, what?"

Quinn's discomfort was tangible and it played out on her face as she glanced at the people milling about what was more than likely an average day for them. It might be a bad idea to tell this Rachel what was really going on but she seemed familiar, and if she was similar to the Rachel Berry from her realm, that must mean that nothing would surprise her, right? Not enough to freak out completely. Quinn just felt inexplicably comfortable around her this time and she didn't know why. "It's… it's kind of a problem that only you can help me with."

An outward reaction was slow to reach Rachel, and when it did it remained subtle. She nodded and smoothly took hold of Quinn's hand, pulling her along until they reached the closest bathroom, thankful that it was empty. Rachel closed the door and didn't protest to Quinn separating their hands as she walked further inside.

"Thanks," Quinn said softly. "I—Rachel, I really need your help with—"

"I thought we were only sticking to each other's houses after last time, but I'm really glad you want to do this because you look and smell so good; I didn't know if I could wait until the weekend," Rachel cut in, stepping towards Quinn and joining both of their hands together as she leaned in for a kiss and walked her backwards into a stall.

All things considered, perhaps Quinn shouldn't have been so surprised by the move. But she was. Her heart jumped beneath her breast and she couldn't find the words she wanted to say after even the simplest touches of Rachel's mouth had rendered her temporarily speechless. She thought they were friends there and her face heated at the naivety.

"We're dating?" she asked cautiously.

Rachel smiled as she slid the lock shut to give them some privacy should any female students need to use the bathroom. "You wish."

This attitude was so foreign to Quinn that she genuinely wasn't sure how to proceed. "So we're…friends," she surmised quietly.

"Best friends." Rachel punctuated that declaration by pushing up on her toes and pushed their bodies together, pressing forward to capture Quinn's mouth. "With the kind of benefits that include toe-curling pleasure and monthly trips to local theatre where I check out the lack of competition from the people in this town. The kind of best friends who are clear about what this arrangement means, and what it doesn't. You remember the rules, don't you?" Rachel teased.

Quinn nodded and her lips parted to expel an anxious breath when Rachel tilted her head up for another kiss. She knew she should have put a stop to it, but she was so tired of running and this was the first version of Rachel where there were no expectations, no immediate way of screwing up. So, when Rachel's mouth moved against hers, trapping her top lip in a kiss, Quinn's eyes stubbornly slid shut. She didn't try to push her away.

"Are you going to kiss me back at some point?" Rachel asked. She didn't mean to give Quinn a hard time but she'd had a stressful couple of days and being with her was just what the doctor ordered, although perhaps the location could be better.

Quinn did kiss Rachel.

On the cheek.

"I'm sorry," she said, sliding out from between Rachel and the side of the stall. "Find me later. I'll be back to normal then." Quinn was almost out of the stall when fingers wrapped around her arm made her stop.

"Really, is there a butt I should be kicking? A sing-off to publically humiliate them? You know I'd jump at the chance."

Quinn smiled. "No. Thank you."

Rachel let go.

X

After finally managing to find (a friendly) Tina and convince her that she was from a different realm, it was relatively easy to convince her to do the right thing and send Rachel back —or at least to a different realm until she'd realm-jumped so many times that she eventually made it back home. Going back to the supply closet she'd appeared from hadn't been enough; Tina had to touch Rachel's hand and a specific part of the wall before Rachel opened her eyes to find herself completely alone.

It was frightening to be at the school again.

The previous experience had been frightening but she'd made a connection with a different Quinn; she didn't have that right now. She was friendless and Quinnless and all she could do was square her shoulders and push out of the closet to join the crowd and find her way back home.

She went unnoticed in the crowd of students and used it to her advantage. The little bit of extra attention might have been a pleasant change in the other realm but at least here she seemed to be back down to her lowly status and therefore could fly under the radar, so to speak. For the majority of the time.

Someone bumped into her and she was on the receiving end of a brief yet cutting glare from a girl she didn't recognise.

There was no time to waste, so Rachel ducked her head and picked up her pace after checking the time. It was coming up to the end of lunch which explained the amount of students who weren't in class. Quinn spent her lunches with the rest of the Cheerios, so all Rachel had to do was keep a low profile as she searched the cafeteria for signs of her friends.

She didn't find her friends easily but she did spot McKinley's teen royalty. They were at the back, tucked into the corner table where every other student who wasn't a relevant jock or Cheerio knew not to sit. Rachel usually sat across the entire cafeteria to them.

Quinn wasn't there and Rachel frowned because Brittany and Santana were seated and chatting animatedly, and even if Quinn didn't eat with the rest of the Cheerios, she always, always sat with them. Where was she?

"Over here, Rach!" a high, loud voice called.

Rachel scanned the tables until she caught sight of Kurt waving his arm in the air to gain her attention and, beside him, Tina; who had taken a red scarf from around her neck and was flapping it around while she drawled Rachel's name like a lunatic, drawing some attention to them. She headed towards them, relieved. Finn, Matt, and Mercedes were also taking up space at the table, initially too busy devouring their lunches to offer anything more than a quick greeting and moving over to make room for her to sit.

Rachel didn't exactly have the appetite or time for a bite to eat right now.

She stopped beside the table. "Hi, guys."

"Aren't you sitting?" Finn asked.

"I can't," she replied, witness to him spreading out in the extra space again. "Tina, do you think I could talk to you privately?"

"Yeah, but can I finish lunch first or are you dying?"

"Fit as a fiddle," Rachel insisted. "No worries there. I-I would just really appreciate it if we could talk as soon as you finish digesting. It's important. I'll go wait for you in the astronomy room, okay? It's empty."

"Can it be a little later?" Tina asked. "I have an appointment in five minutes with the counsellor to talk about college, but then I'm free. Is that okay? I don't want to have to run out on you when you're in the middle of whatever it is you need to talk about."

Rachel could hardly say no. Her head inclined grudgingly. This meant she had free time. This meant that her mind would wander off with her. She couldn't stay with a group of her friends; it would be the fastest way to get caught up and get stuck. She would have to expose herself to as few people as possible.

A deserted classroom would be the safest place. Unquestionably. No danger of getting herself into any more trouble than she'd already done.

But her eyes stubbornly strayed towards the Cheerios table where one Miss Quinn Fabray was noticeably absent. It nagged at her. If the other realm she'd been to had an unpopular Quinn, which Quinn did this realm have?

Rachel was unable to stop herself from asking, "Do you guys know where Quinn is?"

"Quinn Fabray?"

Rachel focused all of her piqued attention on Matt Rutherford. "Yes, Matt. Do you know her?"

"Not really," Matt said, crushing all of her hope. "But—"

"A lot of people _know_ her," Finn mumbled.

Rachel trained her eyes on the taller boy and watched him sort of shrink down and sip at his drink to avoid the pointed glare. It was only enjoyable for a short time. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I just hear stuff about her, you know? Bad stuff. I heard she spent sophomore summer dating a forty-year-old skater and getting high."

There was a strained pause. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Her eyes drifted back towards Matt and she smiled in encouragement. "Matthew, you were saying before you were so rudely interrupted?"

Matt didn't even afford Finn a sympathetic glance. "But she just left with her friends." He pointed to a different set of doors to those she'd entered through. "They went that way."

"I really, really like you right now," she said, infectiously happy. She really shouldn't be seeking out her… well, she wasn't sure what she should call Quinn, but she knew it wasn't the _best_ idea to allow her curiosity get the better of her, yet there she was not even a minute later, ambling down the hallway after making plans to meet up with Tina as soon as the ill-timed meeting with the school guidance counsellor was done with.

There were several sets of eyes on her as she sought Quinn out, but nothing to note. They mostly looked through her, and Rachel was fine with that.

She made a promise to herself —and the Tina from her realm— that she would not allow anyone or anything to capture enough of her attention, so Rachel made a sincere effort to keep most aspects of the realm at arm's length. What she took in, she let it fade from her mind. She couldn't even remember the girl's face that had bumped into her before entering the cafeteria and, luckily, a ruckus happening somewhere down the hallway prevented her mind from trying to recall the image.

When Rachel had located the source of the noise, her steps halted.

Standing not ten feet away was Quinn Fabray, who seemed to have had a drastic makeover from the trademark blond hair and Cheerios uniform slash vaguely trendy outfits, depending on one's opinion. Rachel could be objective. She didn't think Quinn looked any less fetching in a, well, less fashionable dress or skirt and blouse combo. Quinn would make her heart beat faster even if she wore a paper bag over her head. Maybe if they got closer back home she'd give Quinn some tips.

As it was, Quinn stood by a row of lockers sporting pink hair, dark clothes, and a sleeve tattoo with three girls Rachel had never seen around school before and watched as a short, skinny freshmen boy scrambled up from the floor and run away in the opposite direction. Quinn didn't laugh with her friends, and Rachel found herself relieved. Nothing about that was funny, although you'd never know it by the way the girls beside Quinn laughed like hyenas.

Finally, once one of the girls looked at her, Quinn allowed a lazy grin to spread over her face.

Rachel swallowed heavily.

Okay, so this version of Quinn had friends. No need to worry about her. Rachel would move on. She just had to tear her eyes away and lift her feet from the floor one at a time. The astronomy classroom was really only a short dist—

The pack of hyenas spotted her.

She nervously glanced to the right. The stairs leading up to the astronomy level were in dashing distance, she could make it. The abrupt sense of guilt gnawing away at her made no sense whatsoever because she didn't want to get stuck there. She could think of better ways to spend a weekend than realm-hopping completely and utterly alone, and she wasn't afraid of a school bully; even three of them. She'd had enough experience with them. But she supposed that she shouldn't have even sought Quinn out, let alone get caught staring by her posse of badly dressed thugs.

Rachel's eyes darted back to Quinn and detected the subtle yet present trace of a blush on her face.

"Oh, look, Quinn; your number one fan's here," Ronnie announced smarmily. "Hey, Frodo. Almost didn't recognise you away from the loser squad."

Mack smiled and shook her head, moving away from the lockers to finish her journey to the bleachers where she could satisfy a nicotine craving. "Whatever you do, don't drive home in this weather, Q. If you get into an accident, this one here will have you tied to her bed in no time."

Rachel was about to protest when Sheila stepped forward and silenced her with the frozen depths of her eyes. A shiver ran down Rachel's spine, worsening even after Sheila chuckled in amusement. What she found amusing, Rachel couldn't begin to fathom. She followed all three of them with her eyes as they walked off. She wasn't _afraid_ of them, but they did look like they knew how to throw a punch and she wasn't going to chance her nose despite knowing it would be fixed eventually.

Quinn waited until they were out of earshot. "Be more obvious, why don't you?"

"What?"

"Why not shove your tongue down my throat for the whole school to see?" she asked tersely.

Rachel was momentarily distracted by the visual of doing just that —minus the audience, of course. In the meantime, Quinn had shaken her head and was walking away. Without thinking, Rachel jogged to catch up with her. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I won't talk to you again if that's what you want. I was just distracted by… a-and I have to run, anyway. I have a prior engagement. Have a pleasant afternoon, Quinn."

Quinn frowned. "I didn't say that."

"I know, but if it's something you want then I can respect your —"

"If I wanted it, I'd tell you. I just don't want you looking at me like that in school."

"Like what?"

"Like you've seen me naked."

Rachel's tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and she found herself following Quinn through the school until they reached a large set of doors leading outside. She felt the telling bitter chill of snow before she saw it, icy air blowing in from the doors some thoughtless students had left open.

She was wearing a thin, formfitting sweater. While she didn't feel the cold very easily, it still wasn't going to be sufficient in keeping her warm should Quinn expect her to go outside in a blizzard. The once-over she gave her was not subtle, and ended up being more of a thrice-over.

Quinn was wearing dark pants to accompany the pair of heavy-looking boots that must be a group thing because Rachel spotted all three of Quinn's friends wearing similar if not identical shoes. It was just Quinn's top-half she was worried about; barely covered with a top. Her eyes didn't stick to the exposed midriff as long as she may have liked —she was being respectful— but there was a slight arch in Quinn's right brow when Rachel averted her eyes from the tempting expanse of skin.

She felt her face heat. "Don't you have something to keep you warm?"

"It's in the car, come on."

Rachel stopped at the doorway, eyeing the heavy greyness of the sky with much disdain. This would have been the perfect excuse to wear the cute new parka her parents brought for her. "I'll wait here." A lie. She had to go and wait for Tina and not think about the allure of Miss Fabray.

Quinn's stare was steadfast. "Seriously?"

"My clothes aren't weather-appropriate, I don't want to get sick."

"We're not going for a hike, Berry."

The way falling snow fell upon unruly strands of pink hair grabbed Rachel's attention for a second. The colour was ridiculous yet so fucking attractive when coupled with the attitude and outfit. "Okay, but my hair will still get wet and frizz more than—"

Quinn rolled her eyes and turned to see a girl of average height and build approaching with an armful of books and an umbrella. It was an obvious move to anyone but Rachel —and the unsuspecting girl.

"Quinn!" Rachel admonished, trying to take the umbrella out of a strong hand. It wouldn't budge. She turned to the victim of thievery, both hands still latched onto Quinn's and the umbrella. "She will give you this back, don't you worry."

The girl didn't seem to be one who succumbed to fear because she directed an even gaze towards her thief. "She better."

"Get lost, or I might forget to hand it in."

A spiteful glare later, the girl did.

Quinn lifted her arm to hold the umbrella over Rachel's head. "Let's go."

"That really wasn't very nice. What if she needs it before you hand it back in?"

"Then her hair's gonna get wet."

Against her better judgement, Rachel trailed after Quinn on the trek to the parking lot. The snow was thick on the ground and it produced a soft crunch with each step. She kept trying to sneak glances of the tattoos snaked up Quinn's arm. From what she could see, and despite never really thinking much on if she was a fan of them or not, she concluded that she was. At least on Quinn. A cold, wet sensation seeped down the side of her Mary Jane's before long and she looked down, lifting her foot to shake off a clump of snow without faltering in her steps.

Snow fell on her head.

Quinn had lowered the umbrella and held it out like she wanted nothing to do with it. "You forget how to use one of these?"

"No," Rachel denied perfunctorily, accepting the offered protection against the snowfall. She thought on it for a second and sidled closer so that their arms brushed as they walked, extending the umbrella over both of their heads. "I—I really don't have long. I have to meet my friend."

"The prior engagement," Quinn referred. "I know. You already said."

The boots Quinn wore were much more practical in this weather, Rachel came to find out.

The paths were heavily trafficked with students and the decline of the grass that Quinn took them down instead was slick underneath the pressed snow. Rachel tried putting her heels down first and everything. Her feet skidded down over a patch of snow and grass where the earth had been battered with heavy rain and snowfall all within the span of thirty-six hours, and she dropped the umbrella, gripping hold of Quinn's arm through instinct alone. The abrupt jerk of Quinn's body holding them both upright caused Rachel to offer a self-conscious press of her lips prior to a quick bend of her knees to pick up their protection against the weather.

Quinn's halted breath was finally released from her mouth and it expanded in a cloud. The temperature had been below freezing when she woke up this morning but it felt like it had dropped a further ten degrees, easy. She stared first at Rachel, then her choice of footwear. No comment was passed.

"Sorry," Rachel muttered as Quinn looked around to see if they had an audience. They didn't.

The rest of the journey to the lot was completed without injury, and Rachel didn't even care that Quinn seemed to have parked right at the back of it. She followed dutifully and stood silent when Quinn stopped at a particular car and leaned over the side of the hood to draw on a fellow student's windscreen.

"That's immature and tasteless, Quinn," Rachel chided, staring at the large phallus etched into snow. "How would you like to find your car vandalised?"

"She'll get over it," Quinn replied confidently, moving away to get to her own car which wasn't far away. "It's Mack's."

"Who?"

She smirked. "I know you don't like her, but she only gives you a hard time because you look at her like she's going to knife you. She plays on it. They all do."

Rachel really had to think before opening her mouth next time.

Outside of their snow-free bubble, it was coming down hard now. Harder than before. Rachel predicted that it would be less than an hour before school was cancelled and panicked slightly because she _had_ to see Tina.

The white landscape was no contest for holding Rachel's attention when she and Quinn came to a stop at a car nestled into a corner and beside a large SUV. Quinn's arm extended to push a button on her keys, opening the locks, and Rachel was drawn to the paleness of it in comparison to the tattoos that covered the other as Quinn carefully hooked her fingers under the handle and slowly pulled the door open.

Rachel was bemused by the care in which Quinn handled her car when she recently had no qualms about de-facing a friend's just moments ago. Still, it didn't stop her from climbing into the back seat when Quinn gestured for her to get inside.

Quinn took a look around to determine whether or not anybody was close by. She was confident enough that they were alone and she stepped forward to get into the car when her head rebounded like she'd thumped it off a wall. Rachel had stuck her arm out of the vehicle to shake the umbrella off.

Quinn's face got soaked.

" _Thanks_ ," she barked, though her expression signalling amusement more than anything. Rachel still looked suitably contrite.

"Quinn, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you."

She was right behind her. Where else would she have gone?

Rachel tossed the umbrella in the front and reached out towards Quinn's face. "Here, let me..."

Quinn swatted her hand away and hip-checked her on her way inside the car. "Just move over, it's cold."

Rachel scrambled over to leave a seat between them and watched as Quinn very carefully pulled the door shut so that the snow didn't shift. Her lips curled downward. She hoped Quinn didn't kiss her car, or anything. She was being so… gentle with it.

"I don't see your jacket. Are you sure it's—"

"It's in the trunk."

Rachel's head bobbed. "Oh. Okay," she added after a moment, inclining her head forward and completely missing the way Quinn's eyes were drawn to the pinched skin between her brows. "Well, do you mind telling me why we're sitting in here like ducks when there's a blizzard getting progressively worse outside, meaning we grow closer to hypothermia with every minute we're exposed."

"Mother Nature's not going to take us out, Rachel. Relax."

"Well, pneumonia could! And might I remind you that—"

"No," Quinn cut in.

"That I promised my time and attention to a friend this afternoon?" Rachel charged on despite an eye-roll. "I won't bore you with the details but, trust me, I can't be late. If I'm late, it means I _miss_ her, and if I miss her, I'm one step closer to becoming trapped."

"We're already trapped."

The beginning of Quinn's smile was so unexpectedly sweet that Rachel forgot what she was about to say. "What?"

"The windows," Quinn pointed out before closing the distance between their bodies. She twisted and grasped the side of Rachel's head, pulling her around for a long kiss. Each window was covered in a thick layer of snow, leaving them completely hidden from view. "We're snowed in. So unfortunate." She kissed her again and swung her left leg around, spreading them to perch on top of Rachel's lap. "We should keep warm. Who knows how long it's going to take to get out of here."

The silly grin Rachel could feel against her mouth produced one of her own. She didn't know Quinn had a side like this. She forgot that she wanted to find Tina and returned a kiss.

When Quinn's hand lifted to cup the side of her head, Rachel grasped her wrist instead, pulling her hand down to inspect Quinn's tattoo. It was black and white, beautifully shaded, and included different pieces which all blended together seamlessly. Her fingers traced over a playing card inked into the skin.

"It hasn't changed."

Rachel looked up. "Sorry?"

"The tattoo, since the last time you stared at it like it was going to dance for you."

"No, I was…feeling your skin," Rachel insisted. "To see if it was cold, and it is."

Quinn locked the doors and handed the keys over to Rachel. "You can't lie for shit."

"Excuse me?"

Quinn just laughed and kissed her. Rachel would never change, and she loved it.

X

Quinn wasn't surprised by much anymore.

She'd seen too much.

Yet another realm and she walked through the halls of McKinley with irritation clearly etched into her face. A Cheerio asked if she was okay and she pulled a plastic smile to her mouth and assured her teammate that she was perfect. She wasn't, of course. She was desperate for a breakthrough. But this was Groundhog's Day and the novelty had officially worn off. If she didn't act like she was fine, she wouldn't be.

And there was no way she was going to _not_ be fine because Rachel Berry happened to be missing in the universe.

Tina had just left to search for Rachel and Quinn headed in the opposite direction. Rachel had obviously been transported to school because it was their main location whenever they realm-hopped. It couldn't have been a smaller location. Oh no, that would be asking too much.

As would asking for not every version of Rachel to try to kiss or have sex with her. Every single time. It was insane.

Noah Puckerman hurled a football through the air and Quinn watched it soar down the hallway until it was grasped by large hands. Finn Hudson's smile was elated.

"Yeah!" he cheered.

She watched the entire scene play out and came to the realisation that she was wasting time. Quinn stepped backwards and spun around to come face to face with Rachel. The sudden and unexpected presence made her start. She brought a hand to her chest and couldn't help the frown. "God."

Rachel looked exceptionally guilty and regretful. "Don't look at me like that," she asked quietly.

This obviously wasn't her Rachel, and therefore this was also time wasted. Quinn turned her shoulder and stepped forward to pass her. "I don't have time for this." She got only two steps away when she felt the warm pressure of Rachel's hand slide the length of her forearm until their hands were joined.

"Please don't be mad like this."

Quinn didn't have a clue what was going on and she was vaguely curious, but not enough to stick around. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied without falter in her steps.

"Yes, you do. Quinn, please, let's talk. Let's go to my house and talk."

"I'm busy."

Rachel stopped and held tight to Quinn's hand, forcing her to do the same. The consternation of her brow and how she swallowed tightly indicated that this was serious. "You're mad at me, but you're not talking to me. A-and that means you're hurt," she concluded. "Because of me, of what I said, and I need you to listen to me so that I can—"

"I'm not mad," Quinn rejected easily.

Rachel's eyes began to shine with tears. "You're not?" Her mouth curved down and she licked her lips to stop it. "Nothing has changed since I told you that I'm marrying Finn?"

Quinn's face fell.

"You won't talk to me," Rachel added. "You'll barely look at me. You haven't even been to Glee when you know how important our rehearsals are right now. I mean, I-I understand that you're surprised but I thought as my friend, as one of the most important, _treasured_ people in my life that you'd at least be happy that I'm happy. Instead, you look at me like… I don't know. I don't know how you look at me, but I don't like it," she stated. The look Quinn gave her constricted her chest, made it hurt. It was happening right now.

Quinn wondered how nobody else could hear her heart when it beat so loudly in her ears.

Wait, _what_? This was a joke. Quinn had lost count of the realms she'd been to but every single one of them had Rachel all over her. Why was it different now? Why did it disgust her? Why did it make her—

The look she gave Rachel now wasn't particularly nice, but it was more out of confusion than anything. "What?"

Rachel glanced behind Quinn and then back to her. "Come home with me. My Dads are at work, we'll have the place to ourselves. We can talk properly, okay? Clear the air." She tugged on Quinn's hand again and was relieved that Quinn didn't try to pull away.

They made it to Rachel's house.

Quinn remembered the street from the time she'd sped there with cursed sprinkles in her system, remembered how she wanted Rachel so much that she couldn't think of a single thing other than to get closer to her. She remembered how Rachel had left scratches on her back, how she clung to her. Mostly, Quinn remembered the way Rachel looked at her. Even through the haze of lust, she knew she'd seen the same look in Rachel's eyes before. She knew that it wasn't _just_ the spell. At least for Rachel.

The engine had barely died down when Rachel faced Quinn, who still sat silent in the passenger seat. "Quinn…" she started to say.

"You're too young."

Rachel swallowed. "We feel mature enough."

Quinn stared out of the window and had a direct view of the living room where she and Rachel had eaten a hasty dinner to replace burned calories while trying to pay attention to the TV, and then they'd—

"You're not."

Rachel was just happy that they were finally talking about this. The last week should have been one of her happiest but she just couldn't find it within herself to be happy when things were so strained between her and Quinn. She nodded gently, knowing on some level that Quinn would say that. "Look, Finn's… he's not perfect, okay, but he's perfect for me. As far as flaws go, we're pretty evenly matched in that area."

It was so _strange_ to hear.

"He won't take care of you," Quinn claimed knowingly, turning to face Rachel now.

"That's not for you to say."

"Why did you ask me to come here?"

"To explain."

"That you're making a mistake?"

"No," Rachel stressed gently. "To explain how nothing is going to change between us; I know you don't react well to it. And I know Finn initially frowned upon our friendship and how deeply we bonded, but he's not a possessive caveman anymore. He's really growing up."

Quinn studied Rachel for a long time, trying to make sense of this, and why there was an unrelated but alarmingly distinct lack of air in the car; enough to feel it in her chest. "I can't believe you're doing this," she breathed.

It was the stupidest thing she'd ever fucking heard, and she could barely form words because of it.

Rachel held her hand and squeezed. "I need you to tell me that you'll still be here." The sound of her phone alerting her to a text message stole her attention and would have lost it within a second if she hadn't have seen Quinn's picture, indicating that the message was from her. Rachel reached out to read it with her free hand. "Did you send this earlier?" she asked, confused.

On her list of priorities, a text message ranked pretty low. Quinn could barely focus. "What?"

Rachel held up the phone for Quinn to read the message saying that they needed to talk, please come over. Luckily, it wasn't unheard of that text messages took some time to be delivered, however, Quinn still panicked at the sight of it, of how she had stupidly allowed this Rachel to drag her away from her mission, and separated their hands. "I gotta go," she said, looking distressed. She opened the door and stumbled out of it. "Please—please don't marry him if you're not one-hundred per cent sure."

"Quinn, wait!"

But she couldn't. Quinn ran until she was out of earshot, and then she shouted the one name that brought a strange sense of safety in all of the realms she'd been to. Tina's worried face was in front of her in almost no time at all. They were back at school, occupying an empty science lab.

"What happened?" Tina asked, worried. Quinn was shaking and visibly trying to keep it together, although she looked to be failing spectacularly.

"Nothing." Tina stared at her and Quinn shook her head a moment later, to convince who, she wasn't sure. "Nothing. This isn't real." Objectively, she knew that. She must have been extremely tired and weak from the amount of times she'd travelled realms, that's all. That's why her eyes burned and her throat ached. That's why the warm rush of tears over her eyes was a welcome relief in soothing the pain.

Tina stepped forward at once, bringing a hand to Quinn's shoulder. "Quinn..."

That tone of voice made Quinn sigh irritably and she grit her teeth against the onslaught of pain that it brought. She moved away to the closest stool and sat down, running a hand through her hair before her elbows came to rest on the wood, propping her head up. "When does it wear off?"

"What?"

"The _spell_."

Tina walked closer. "Quinn, I don't know what you mean."

"I'm tired," Quinn admitted quietly. "I want it to stop now." In a flash, Tina looked so understanding that Quinn wanted to throw up. She gripped her head tighter and shook it. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

"This is… this is a really important but difficult time for you. If you need to talk—"

"I _don't_."

"I can be discreet."

"It's the spell," Quinn said thickly. "It has to be."

Tina felt comfortable enough to reach out and rub Quinn's shoulder. "Maybe you should talk to Rachel when we find her. She's really good with knowing what to say to people when—"

One of Quinn's arms fell down heavily against the counter, eyes wide. "You can do another one. Another spell."

"What?"

"Not for Rachel, for me."

Tina eyed Quinn warily. "What do you want?"

"Make me forget."

Tina breathed out a breath of laughter. "No way," she responded lightly. Quinn's hopeful expression was stronger than ever, so she was sterner next time. "No."

"But— you _owe_ me!" Quinn retorted desperately, turning on her stool to follow Tina with her eyes.

"I don't mess with people's minds, Quinn! I'm not a monster. People aren't toys for me to play with."

"But I want you to do it! Please. I-I'll pay you. Daddy's got money; I get a good allowance for good grades and… and a good reputation."

The urgency was difficult to look over, and Tina leaned back against a counter, an apology written all over her face. "I want to help you, but not like this. I can't." Quinn's face twisted and a pitiful sound escaped from her mouth. Tina wanted to comfort her but knew it wouldn't be appreciated. She watched Quinn slump down and put her head in her hands. "I'll give you a few minutes, then we have to go," she said gently, affording Quinn a small amount of privacy.

It was all she could offer.

X

Another realm didn't help. Or one more after that.

Quinn couldn't focus.

She was a hindrance rather than a help in that frame of mind, and Tina didn't separate from Quinn this time until they'd found an empty class for her to wait in until she got word that Rachel had been found, or she wasn't there. Quinn knew which answer Tina would come back with and sighed miserably.

This was all her fault.

If she hadn't been a bitch, afraid to even be touched by Rachel, then none of this would have happened. The stupid cat wouldn't have frightened the life out of her and she would never have spilled the drink and had to have scrambled to safety. She tried not to think about how that was achieved as soon as she'd reached Rachel.

But there were a lot of things Quinn couldn't stop thinking about now.

Her head rested on her outstretched arms spread over the counter. She didn't even want to look at this place. The Home Ec room.

The door was pushed open and Quinn heard a quiet but listless sigh before someone sat down on the seat beside her. Her breath hitched in annoyance and confusion. Who the fuck would take a look at her body language and deem it acceptable to approach? She lifted her head with a dark look about her eyes.

And then it softened.

Rachel.

Quinn looked at her for a moment, long enough to watch Rachel put her head in her hands like she did in her realm when she was stuck on a recipe, and then turned away to put her head back down. She wasn't going to do this. She didn't care. An alternate version of Rachel was of no interest to her. Not anymore.

"Bad day?" Rachel asked after a while.

The silence had been comfortable but she was so tired that she could have just overlooked it. "Yeah," Quinn said resignedly. She felt so defeated.

"I know that feeling. Hope it gets better for you."

Quinn almost laughed. Well, it couldn't get worse, that was for fucking sure. "Thanks."

"Have you seen Tina?" Rachel asked. "Uh, Tina Cohen-Chang? She's, like, around five-four, absolutely stunning; I'm so jealous, and she has a blue streak in her hair."

Quinn grunted carelessly. "She's meeting me here."

Oh, thank God. Less work for her. Rachel also thought it was a refreshing change to see Quinn and Tina as apparent friends. She wished that was the case in her realm.

"You should say it back," she came back with after a lull.

"What?"

"Well, it's just that I said I hoped your day improved and you didn't say it back. You're supposed to." Realm-hopping was _tiring_ but Rachel couldn't deny the small thrill of excitement at being exposed to different sides to Quinn that she hadn't gotten to know yet. She looked at the back of her head and wondered what differences this one had in comparison to the Quinn from her realm. It had only been a few minutes but the familiarity was comforting. Every version of Quinn had been comforting in some way or another.

She wondered if this Quinn would kiss her like the other two had. Judging from their exchange so far, Rachel highly doubted it.

"I hope you have the best day of your life," Quinn replied flatly. "I hope it's something you get to tell your grandkids about every Christmas. I even hope you remember this day when you have Alzheimer's and you start to think your daughter is your dead wife."

"You know, if you insist on being this sarcastic you could at least carry a mop around." Rachel still stared at blond hair. "And what gave you the impression that I was gay? I know we made love until I was… sort of numb, but have I ever exclusively said that?"

Quinn turned over and peered up at Rachel, a sharp expression on her face.

"Are we dating?" Rachel asked, suddenly nervous. The blank stare did not help. "Are we friends?" Her eyebrows shot up. "Do you know who I am?" she worried.

Quinn looked at her like she had two heads, but before she could open her mouth —probably to bark an order to shut up without really thinking about what Rachel had just said and what it meant, when the door burst open and crashed against the wall. They both jumped at the intrusion.

It was Tina.

"Did you find Rachel?" were the first words from Quinn's mouth.

Had the trip from the other realm damaged her hearing? Rachel couldn't have heard right. "Find me?"

"Another Rachel. She got shut inside a—"

"Linen closet!" she exclaimed joyously, her hand shooting out to Quinn's arm. "Oh my God, Quinn, I am so happy to see you!"

Quinn nearly snapped her neck with how quickly her head whipped around to face Rachel. Her smile was instantaneous and she just didn't _care_ to hide it. Her shouldered slackened and she turned to Tina, to ask her to finally, finally take them all home, only Tina wasn't sharing the love. She looked downright furious. That was when Quinn noticed the change of Tina's clothes since she'd last seen her.

"You," Tina growled.

"Me?" Rachel echoed. She was being looked at like she was a criminal at best.

With a heated glare fixed upon Rachel Berry, Tina muttered under her breath and raised her right hand into a loose hold; almost as if she were holding an invisible ball. Quinn looked between the two of them in confusion and her mouth fell open as she caught sight of a blue, glowing orb growing in size inside Tina's palm.

And then Tina reared her arm backwards.

The next thing Rachel was aware of was the sensation of Quinn's body pushing against hers, an arm locked around her middle as they crashed to the floor and the large cabinet across the room exploding upon the ferocious impact of Tina's attack. An attack meant for her.

Impact of their own fall hurt both Rachel and Quinn, but it wasn't the time to focus on it. Their eyes locked, and Rachel, horrendous timing aside, knew she had missed being this close to Quinn. She could see her eyes properly. They were so beautif—

"Run," Quinn ordered lowly.

Rachel snapped out of it at once.

Quinn scrambled up first, keeping her body as low as she could as Rachel turned over and began pushing her body up from the floor. Rachel barely had the one hand and foot on the tiles when Quinn was grabbing tightly to her hand and pulling her along. She moved faster, following as she was led swiftly through the classroom and then shoved out of the door first.

"Go, go, go!" Quinn chanted.

There was a thunderous explosion behind them and neither of them looked back to see the door with a brand new student-hole conveniently placed in the centre of it.

They ran like their lives depended on it.

"What did you do?" Quinn hissed after coming to an abrupt halt a minute later, harshly tugging on Rachel's arm when she was about to run right around a corner without checking if the coast was clear.

"What did _I_ do? What did _you_ do?"

"I was looking for you. I haven't even seen Tina since we got here."

"You were sitting down in an empty classroom. How is that supposed to find me?"

Quinn gave her a dirty look. "It worked, didn't it?"

Rachel couldn't argue with that. "I suppose," she admitted, watching now as Quinn stealthily peered around a corner. She couldn't help but smile in the midst of being hunted. She was so relieved to be with her, the _real_ Quinn. "Thank you for coming to get me," Rachel said. "Even though technically this whole situation is a result of your inability to—"

Rachel was shoved out into the hallway where her stomach promptly bottomed out.

Quinn's hand was at her back a moment later, pushing her towards the closest classroom. It may have been a cruel method to shut her up, but it worked effectively. Quinn closed the door quickly and quietly, spinning on her heel to search for the nearest large object to barricade the door with.

It turned out that the nearest object wasn't exactly large.

Rachel was _right there_ , and practically foaming at the mouth. "Just who do you think you are?" she demanded.

"It was clear," Quinn stated.

The sneer was not appreciated. Rachel stepped closer so that Quinn couldn't possibly ignore her. Their bodies touched. "Did you know that before you put me in the line of fire? Huh? Or was that part of your plan; have me taken out in a different realm so that you don't ever have to deal with what happened between us?" She didn't notice how Quinn stood straighter at their proximity.

"I knew it was clear."

"Did you? Maybe that's why we're in here; you're waiting for any sign of Tina to pull this door open and _unceremoniously_ shove me—"

"Keep talking and you'll find out."

Rachel may not have noticed Quinn's stance, but she did pick up on how shallow her breaths seemed to be coming out. Her eyes dropped to Quinn's mouth. It looked so soft; almost as soft as she remembered it to feel.

"What's that?" Quinn said aloud.

Rachel reluctantly dragged her eyes away from a perfect mouth and directed her gaze towards where Quinn was slowly moving towards, picking up pace the more steps she took. Rachel heard a worried gasp and hurried up behind her.

"Tina!" she gasped, pushing past Quinn to drop to her knees beside her friend. Tears stung her eyes as she attempted to rouse her. "Tina."

Quinn lowered to her knees in a way that was gentler on her knees than Rachel, and with no less concern. She reached out to touch Tina's face and leaned down to listen for breath sounds. "She's alive."

"She is?"

Rachel's tears, real emotion, tugged at her and Quinn swallowed, nodding. "Yeah. She's unconscious, but she should be okay. We get worse than this at Cheerios practice." A sudden gasp startled her. Rachel smacked her on the arm.

"The other Tina must be from this realm!" she cried, excited to have made the discovery while Quinn gawped at her like she was anything but a genius who was clearly ahead of her time. "She must be evil."

"She tried to kill us; of course she's evil."

"Well, maybe she had a bad da—"

Quinn climbed to her feet irritably. "We need to barricade the door. Get over here, put your mouth in front of it."

"Your ass would be more effective." Rachel's eyes widened as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She brought her hands up to cover it while Quinn's eyes attempted to cut her by the look of it. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled, still in shock.

There was redness to Quinn's face now. "Shut up."

"But I don't know why I said… You know from that night that I really appreciate the size and shape of your—"

"Shut up," Quinn growled again, mortified. "Just stop talking, before you get us both killed."

Rachel nodded mutely, and jumped to her feet when Quinn motioned for her to help with moving a desk. It was a job they could do together without having to speak, which, frankly, needed to happen sooner rather than later. Teamwork was easy. They had each side of the desk grasped in their hands on the trek over to the door when a large crash outside startled them. Their heads snapped towards each other, eyes wide.

"Shhh," Rachel mouthed, resuming their task quicker than before. They lowered the desk stealthily and were each looking around in search of something else to block the door with without drawing attention to themselves.

"Raaach-elll," Tina drawled from nearby. "I know you're here."

Rachel's mouth fell open in horror. Oh, God. Adrenaline kicked in and pumped through her heart for it to quicken furiously. How could Tina possibly know? She wasn't even wearing perfume.

"And you're going to pay," Tina continued darkly. "You didn't seriously expect to expose my secret to the whole school and not get any payback, did you?"

Rachel deeply resented the surprise on Quinn's face. She shook her head fervently, mouthing, "Not _me_." Admittedly, her mouth ran away with her sometimes but she would never, ever reveal something so deeply personal about her friend. Not for all the awards in the world.

Quinn stopped looking for a way to trap them in. Now she looked for a way to escape. She did not travel through God knows how many realms to end up being finished off by an evil clone. Not now she'd been reunited with Rachel. It was a damn miracle that they'd even found each other.

"The school is empty," Tina said. "Did you notice that when you were running away like a coward? Yeah, I sent them somewhere they will never bother me again; even the teachers. Out of a handful of people I couldn't find, there were only two people I cared about finding. They were you and Quinn, Rachel. I'm glad you didn't leave the building. I would have hated to make a mess all through town."

Across the room, Tina still lay unconscious. Rachel hurried over and shook her shoulder in an attempt to rouse her. She followed that unsuccessful effort with several light slaps to her friend's face, also to no avail. Jesus, just how hard of a hit did Tina take? Rachel studied her with concern, trying to look for any serious signs of injury when the evil version of her friend began taunting her again.

Tina's voice was louder now.

Had she not been terrified, Rachel would have rolled her eyes at some of the things that came out of her mouth.

"You're not even worth killing."

Rachel deflated with a relieved sigh. She pressed a hand to her chest. Oh, God. She needed to sit down.

"But I'm going to do it, anyway. You killed me first. Those people I got rid of, they probably called the news stations before I got to them, maybe someone from the government. You know the government has been searching for people like me for as long as I can remember? They'll be all over a report like this. So it's only fair I restore the balance. I'm not _evil_ , it's not like I want to see you flayed."

Rachel gripped the unconscious Tina's chin. "You wake up right now, you hear me?" she whispered loudly.

"I mean, you walk around this school like you're a legend in the making but we all know you're a poser with no real talent."

Quinn heard a sharp intake of breath and rushed the short distance to Rachel where she grabbed her around the waist, sealing her mouth shut with a hand firmly over the top of it to prevent an affronted response. Rachel struggled against her and the flailing leg caught the side of a desk, creating an audible bang; one that neither had to second-guess if it travelled or not.

Tightening her hold, Quinn hoisted Rachel up as high as she could safely manage and rushed back over to the large windows. One of them was already pushed up all the way, ready for their escape. Rachel braced her hands against the counter and pushed herself up, sticking her legs out of the window first. Once her feet were on the soil she turned back and held eager hands and arms out for Quinn.

She wanted to apologise but it was probably the wrong time.

Quinn's escape came faster than Rachel felt hers had. Quinn moved faster, kept a more level head. She palmed Quinn's thigh, shoulder, and head on the way out, lowering the window shut just in time to see a bright flash behind the glass and the sound of what would have been an ear-splitting explosion had she been inside the room. It was loud enough where she stood, and it was fear that caused her to trip over her own feet as she ducked and stumbled further away from the window.

Quinn gripped Rachel's upper arm, assisting her up as quickly as possible. She knew what weighed on her mind. "She'll be okay, don't worry." The pained expression didn't ease but they didn't have time right now. Quinn pulled on her arm. "We gotta go. Rachel, come on, she'll be safer if we draw the other Tina away from her."

Rachel didn't feel comfortable about it, but Quinn was right. They hurried away, at least out of sight.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know," Quinn said. She didn't have time to put any sugar on it. She had no idea what she was doing. That was the absolute truth to any question Rachel had to ask her lately.

They needed to escape, but the only way to do that was to stay at school where a homicidal witch was currently on the warpath, hunting them down like animals. Rachel didn't want to think it, not after they'd just found each other again, but she knew that wherever they went they would double their chances of drawing attention to themselves and getting caught if they stuck together.

"I think we should split up."

"No."

"Look at the bigger picture. There are two of us; she's—"

" _No_."

Quinn looked so serious and had pulled her closer, gripping her biceps that more firmly. Rachel thought she was perfectly within her rights to have some difficulty in breathing. Her initial rebuffed response stuttered to stop as an idea smothered it. "Maybe we can go back."

"Back where?"

"To the realm I just came from. Tina was nice there, she was my friend. Maybe she can send us back to our realm this time. Now that we're together, it's something else to anchor us home."

"What about Tina? We can't just leave her."

"Her aunts can fix that," Rachel rushed out confidently.

Quinn didn't ask if Rachel was sure. She nodded her consent and allowed her to lead the way, dropping her hand from Rachel's arm when she was confident that she didn't have a runner on her hands. Perhaps it wasn't the most _ideal_ situation to be running back into but it was all they had to go on right now and anything was better than being hunted by a vengeful witch. And Rachel's skin was so soft and warm; it would be such a shame for it to be flayed.

Their mission to sneak back into the school was successful but not without casualty. Both of their nerves were shot. Quinn was certain she'd developed tachycardia.

"It's not far," Rachel whispered, cautious about the volume of her voice, and even how loud her footsteps were. The school was so quiet and at first she thought it was sort of like her nightmare realm. There was nobody to sing to, nobody to appreciate or notice her. But then she'd gloomily found her way to the Home Ec room to discover a sullen Quinn Fabray, whom she could only gather to be an alternate version upon first impression.

It definitely wasn't the same one from the previous realm; that much she'd gathered immediately. The lack of tattoos and pink hair confirmed that. Unable to help herself, Rachel allowed a moment to remember the other Quinn; more specifically her hands and mouth on hers in the back of a car.

Quinn fixed her eyes on the hand latched to hers.

"I'm scared," Rachel explained candidly.

Quinn's grimace was only ever minimal to begin with, and once she realised that Rachel was telling the truth it gradually fell away altogether. She counted to three before closing her fingers around Rachel's hand as they hurried down the hallway. It was completely innocent. She didn't have to be cruelly adverse to innocent contact between her skin and Rachel's. If there was anything at all she'd learned today, it was that.

Rachel expertly manoeuvred her hand until she could link their fingers together.

"Don't push it," Quinn warned, and she could tell that Rachel knew exactly what she was doing because there'd been an almost bashful smile on her face before Quinn had even opened her mouth; growing to a quiet, breathy laugh once the caution was out there.

"Sorry." What? She was. Her fingers tightened around Quinn's to show her how much.

"I know what you're doing," came Quinn's whispered accusation a minute later. Her voice wasn't overly angry but airily superior. It reminded Rachel of the times she'd heard Quinn talking to people like that in their realm, only it sounded different this time. Maybe it was from the realm-travelling, but Rachel thought it almost sounded… fond.

"What am I doing?"

It was quiet.

It was quiet, and Rachel was still moving towards her goal of finding the portal back to the previous realm but she was also anxious, eagerly so, to hear what came out of Quinn's mouth and, most importantly, what didn't. Quinn was usually so private about things; at least what she gave away verbally but she was less skilled in keeping her state of mind from showing all over her face and body, manifesting in lots of little ways that Rachel honestly enjoyed studying in whatever classes or time they shared together. Not all of the time; sometimes she needed honesty straight from the source. And maybe it was conceited to think so, but she didn't think anybody could read Quinn the way she could. Rachel liked feeling superior.

It was quiet, until it wasn't.

A flash of blue light preceded a thunderous explosion, rocking the ground beneath their feet. The unexpectedness of it and how the sound made their ears ring caused Quinn and Rachel to separate, instinct kicking in for them to turn away and stick an arm up in front of their faces to block any flying debris. Once it settled they looked to see the blackened hole of where a row of lockers had stood untouched just moments ago and then Tina emerge from around a corner, heading right towards them.

The ringing in her ears overpowered the words pouring from Tina's mouth and prevented Quinn from hearing exactly what was being said; all a thin, echoing jumble of words which were muted and smothered by the high-pitched buzz inside her head.

Her feet moved backwards and she turned to Rachel who was still close-by, leaning forward to be able to close her fingers around the material covering Rachel's arm and grip tightly, pulling her along for what would be a record time sprint.

The problem with that was the fact that she was able to run faster than Rachel, almost considerably so at times. The ringing began to die down enough to hear her own plea for Rachel to keep up, muffled though it was.

A loud pop sounded behind them and it was almost like someone throwing a thick blanket over her ears with the way her sense was compromised again, a sharp but quiet screech growing in volume in her ears as her body visibly tightened. Rachel ran faster.

Tina chased them and hurled whatever spell she desired at them. Dark magic intended to cause harm may not be necessary often, but it seemed to be made for times like this. Tina loved the heat of the blue orbs in her hand, how much destruction she could force them to do —or how little.

Rachel flinched with every bright flash of light chasing after her to settle deep into the walls or lockers where they blasted, debris raining out in every direction. She couldn't help but think of how it would be her insides if Tina caught her. Rachel thought there was a good chance it would be Quinn's as well, considering the death grip on her sweater.

To give praise where it was due, Quinn and Rachel fared well against each blast and the path of destruction each one of them took. Their pace and resilience was really very admirable. Or it might have been if Tina actually put effort into hitting her targets. She toyed with the girls like her playthings and delighted in their fear until even that wasn't enough to sustain the urge to make Rachel pay for what she did. Really pay.

They raced around another corner and Tina's feet slowed their chase, coming to a gradual stop as she curled her fingers around a small, domed light. Her lips moved with a muttered spell and in almost no time at all there was nothing small about the orb inside her palm. It crackled and spat with power and she raised her other hand to the other side of it, mouth still moving, and pulled her hands apart, comparable to separating magnets while the orb grew in size. Her eyes were a stark contrast to the light inside of her hands as she stared down the hallway at an escaping Rachel, and she reared her arms above her head, launching them forward with as much strength as she could muster.

It was like watching a cannon fly towards its target.

Tina's power sliced through the stale air of the hallway and came crashing to a halt at the double doors at the end of it. The light fastened around them like a vice, illuminating them with a cautionary blue luminosity which hummed and crackled with power. It wouldn't be pretty for anyone to come into contact with it.

Quinn and Rachel skidded to a stop.

Those doors were their escape route. They lead towards the final stretch of hallway before another exit; arguably the best one.

They searched for an alternate route and Rachel fumbled for a proper grasp of Quinn, taking hold of her hand as she darted towards the nearest classroom. Using her hip, she barrelled through the door and immediately caught sight of the second entrance across the room. They could use that. The breakthrough caused a brainwave. If they got out to the other hallway, they could make a dash to the swimming pool. It wasn't that far away. Rachel wasn't an idiot, she knew that witches didn't melt with water; she just happened to know that her breath control was the best of the best and if she was going to be confronted by an evil version of her friend, then the least she could do was defend herself in the water where she would have an advantage. When Tina was slipping unconscious, Rachel would lift her back to the surface and make a swift exit without any harm coming to anyone.

A fantasy.

"Separate," Tina instructed. She watched the connection between Quinn and Rachel tear in two as they were wrenched apart with Quinn flying backwards until she crashed against a row of lockers with sickening force.

A horrified sound got trapped in Rachel's throat as she rushed towards Quinn, who lay motionless on the floor. "Quinn!" An unseen force propelled her away before she could reach her, sending her sprawling to the ground some distance away.

Whatever power had fastened around Rachel, it prevented her from doing much more than pant as she rose up on her elbows, glaring up a storm at an approaching Tina. Each time she did do more than that, pain would latch on to each nerve in her body and produce a strong urge to vomit. But she didn't stay still, she couldn't. She fought against the spell ensnaring her in place and her face had taken on a red tinge by the time Tina got to her.

Rachel trembled when she kneeled down beside her, powerless to stop the unwanted reaction. She couldn't help but be anything other than terrified. Her friend had told her about the dangers of dark magic before and all of the ways it destroyed people.

"You should have tried out for the track team instead of joining that stupid choir," Tina said.

"Please don't do what you're thinking of doing," Rachel pleaded. "I'm not—I mean, I'm _Rachel_ , Rachel Berry, but not the version that you're looking for," she explained, her tremulous voice betraying the fear. "Neither is Quinn. We're just—" Her mouth clamped shut when Tina brushed some of her hair between her fingers. "Trying to get home. We're from a different realm. A-a realm where Tina Cohen-Chang is a witch but, most importantly, my best friend. So, please, don't…tear my skin off."

Tina's fingers were gentle as they raked through her hair but Rachel's heart pounded furiously beneath her ribs, her chest expanding with each heaved breath. Movement on the ground grabbed Rachel's attention and her eyes darted over to where Quinn had started to rouse, groggy though her actions were. She didn't stare for longer than a moment, all too aware that it would bring consequence should she get caught. The hopeful spark in her eyes died out as quickly as it had appeared.

Tina's face contorted for a brief moment. "Seriously?" she asked, soft like she had never been.

Rachel nodded eagerly. "I swear it."

A wicked, vengeful smile reappeared at Tina's mouth and her fingers tightened at Rachel's hair. "What game are you playing?"

"Didn't you see the other Tina on the floor in that classroom?" Rachel asked in haste, turning her hands over submissively.

"What other Tina?"

The honest, hissed question made Rachel's stomach sink. But she was also confused. If the evil Tina didn't cross paths with regular Tina, how did her friend get to be unconscious in an empty classroom, and how did she get away in those few seconds before the small explosion? Who the hell _did_ it?

Rachel's lips parted, drawing breath to launch into a deeper explanation when Tina cut in.

"Forget it, you're full of shit. We should talk about my favourite game to play." Her fingers moved in Rachel's hair again, rubbing firmly against one particular spot on her scalp until she saw a wince cross Rachel's features. When she pulled her hand out, she had something between her fingers. A steel ball. "The pinball machines were always my favourite," she shared. "A classic. Unless they shocked me, anyway. It's hard to care about something that hurts you. What do you think? Do you want to play?"

Rachel shook her head. "Tina…"

"Don't 'Tina' me! You're not even sorry!"

"Because I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Liar," Tina accused, dropping her fingers to Rachel's forehead where she placed the small ball in the centre of her forehead. She smiled when it remained in place even after she'd dropped her hand and Rachel thrashed her head all over the place. "Don't worry; I'm good at this game. Kind of an expert, actually."

"Please… you're making the biggest mistake if you—" Rachel's frightened plea gave way to a loud cry as the metal ball was driven into her skin by nothing more than Tina's mouth moving with inaudible words.

Rachel was nothing if not truthful. Quinn was no longer unsteady on her feet. She rushed towards them and tackled Tina away from her, pushing a hand over Tina's mouth to stop any more spells. Despite that, Rachel still screamed, bringing her hands up to her head as she squirmed in agony. Quinn could see blood.

She gripped Tina as tightly as she possibly could and just hoped that it was pain rather than a sick sense of pleasure that was transferred. "Stop!"

Quinn was strong, but Tina wasn't someone who couldn't take care of herself. She managed to overpower Quinn and rip the hand away from her mouth long enough to draw a breath but before she could utter a word, Quinn was there; grappling for control, leaving bruises. That wasn't to say that Quinn wouldn't be sporting an impressive bruise on her back tomorrow, but it really just pissed Tina off. She was going to be generous and let her live, but not anymore.

Now the bruise would never have time to heal.

Quinn's eyes, flashing with anger and concern and something Tina didn't even want to think about, were gravitated towards Rachel, who had suddenly stopped crying out in pain despite the blood streaked down her head and face. That's when Tina struck, almost literally. She thrust a hand out and a brilliant blast of light impacted the side of Quinn's head, catapulting her a good twenty feet away.

With that obstacle out of the way for her to finish off afterwards, Tina resumed the spell on Rachel. It'd weakened because of Quinn, but she was focused again now. Nothing would get in her way.

Rachel gasped for a different reason this time. The steel ball was forced deeper inside her flesh, and she screamed, bending in half to bring her hands up to her head protectively.

And then a flash of light more brilliant, more devastating than any of them had ever seen took their sight. It took Rachel's pain, too. She pushed herself up on one hand, searching for Quinn to know which direction she had to run in. Only, Quinn was nowhere to be seen. Rachel twisted her head to the side to spot the version of her friend who had just tried to kill her lying still on the floor in front of a set of double doors. The doors no longer glowed. Rachel wondered if she'd taken the brunt of power from the spell as she crashed into them.

Rachel had seen Tina. Her _friend_ Tina, and she'd gasped in surprise. It was probably a hallucination from the pain, but still. Now there was no friend, and no Quinn.

And without warning, Rachel felt terribly alone.

Where was Quinn? What had the evil Tina… what had she done with her?

Nothing too serious, it turned out.

Quinn's hand was on Rachel's shoulder not a moment later, coaxing her attention as their friend hurried over. Quinn was pale, and not the fair-skinned kind of pale she usually was, and her eyes were dull. She had the mother of all headaches, but it was nothing life-threatening. Wetness still clung to Rachel's lashes but a comforted, trembling smile made her face lighter even with the blood on it that Quinn saw fit to frown at like it would disappear if she did so.

"Where have you been?" Rachel hissed as Tina came into view, mindful not to disturb the evil version.

Tina chuckled. "Fighting off a tag-team of you guys. You were convinced that I was an evil witch who wanted you dead, Rachel."

"Another me?" Quinn bristled.

"We should go. Are you guys ready?"

Tina's hand rested on top of hers, and Rachel raised her other hand until it was on her shoulder; covering Quinn's. "Yes, please."

"Are you—are you sure you're okay to travel?" Quinn asked. She got a headache from realm-hopping; and although her head pounded from whatever spell the evil Tina had thrown at her, it wasn't a bleeding wound like Rachel's. Travelling with a head injury like that made her feel nauseous. As did the sight of Tina's free hand moving to touch Rachel's forehead. She grabbed it before it could make contact, and then promptly blushed at how much she had just unwittingly given away. "I— sorry," she muttered, brows knitting. She dropped Tina's hand and watched, transfixed, as the small wound on Rachel's head began to close up and shrink in size until it was no longer there.

Her head spun as she tried to process what exactly she'd just witnessed with her own two eyes, and then it spun for another reason as she saw nothing but darkness and felt a relentless push and pull; the sensation she got the time she'd been dared by the Cheerios to go on a rollercoaster.

The next time she opened her eyes, they were home.

X

They went their separate ways almost immediately afterwards.

Rachel watched her go with a worried expression pulling at her brows and it took Tina's hand on her arm to make her realise that perhaps smothering Quinn was not the best thing to do in this situation. She needed time. How much was anyone's guess. Rachel just hoped it wasn't another nail in the coffin. Cursed sprinkles and witchcraft were admittedly a little difficult to wrap one's head around, but different _realms_?

Quinn would probably transfer schools.

The group, who were all back from their travels within seconds of Tina's aunts performing a quick spell, were in high spirits after embracing Rachel, talking over each other to re-tell anecdotes from the realms they'd visited. The other two members of the Cheerios didn't hug Rachel but they did express their relief that she was okay, and that was honestly more than Rachel was expecting.

They all retired to Tina's bedroom where they sat around exchanging more stories from their travels, some shared more than once with even more laughter the second time around, and even cajoled Rachel into telling them what kinds of realms _she'd_ been to. She left out the details of her more intimate encounters with Quinn. She didn't think it was right to talk about her like that when Quinn had so many hang-ups over what happened the other week. She did, however, experience a thrill each time one of her friends told her that she and Quinn were 'definitely involved' in the realms they'd been to, and even seemed 'disgustingly happy' in one or two of them.

It figured that the only place Rachel Berry would be content with the state of her love life would be in an alternate reality.

Their excitement from the experience lasted well into the night, and after yet another story and predictions of what would be happening in one of the other realms right that second, everyone's smiles and laughter began to die down until Tina suggested that they all get some sleep and they could resume the conversation over breakfast.

Everyone took turns in the bathroom, doubling up to save time wherever possible. Rachel shared with Tina and was finally able to talk to her in confidence about what happened with her and Quinn on their quest and why Quinn was even more reluctant to be around her now that they were back home. What surprised Rachel the most wasn't the sordid details but how loyal Tina remained to Quinn.

"A lot happened, Rachel."

Rachel could have come to that startling conclusion all by herself; what she really asked for was a little best-friend slack. "Tina, come on! She's downstairs all by herself because of something that happened and you won't tell me what it is? She's acting like I have leprosy."

Tina chuckled around the toothbrush now inside her mouth. "It's just—" She removed the toothbrush and spat out the excess toothpaste to be heard properly. "There were a lot of different versions of you, okay? I mean, it took a long time to find you. Honestly, I don't think any of us are getting up before midday on _Sunday_. Quinn's tired and confused, and I think space is good for her. At least it has been so far. I talked to her when I went to get the chips earlier."

"Have you _warmed_ to her?" Rachel asked accusatory after a second of stunned silence, a smile blossoming across her face.

"Shut up."

The impossible had happened. Now maybe it could happen again, this time involving the prettiest girl Rachel had ever met.

Everyone's nightly bathroom ritual completed, they settled down in their sleeping bags littered around Tina's bedroom floor in whatever spare space they could find. The first long stretch of silence following the lights going off and the goodnights was broken by the squeak of a door hinge. Rachel opened her eyes and saw Salem pad through the maze of slumbering bodies cluttering the floor. He walked right over to her, and she swept her hand down his body to say hello. He pushed against the contact.

There was nothing Salem loved more than a fuss, but he hadn't left a perfectly warm spot on the couch to sleep in an overcrowded bedroom for no reason.

"Can't sleep?"

"No," Rachel whispered. She knew Quinn had opted to sleep downstairs by her own free will and that Tina had made sure she was comfortable before getting into bed herself, but still. She couldn't settle. "You?"

"Not with the flowing river," he remarked dryly.

Rachel loved Salem, she did, but he was a peculiar little thing when he wanted to be. She smiled, scratching behind his ear now. "What?"

"Take a look. The sight felt like a rare one. "

"It's late," she said quietly. "I wouldn't want to disturb anyone."

Salem had to force his head away from Rachel's fingers where he was enjoying a perfectly good scratch just so he could roll his eyes for her to see. "Get out of here."

She didn't know what was worse; him sassing her in the middle of the night or how she actually followed orders and got up from her make-shift bed. Once she was on her feet, she decided that it was how he jumped into her spot. He looked cute down on the floor though, so she grudgingly pulled the covers over to keep him warm. "Don't get too comfortable, buddy," she warned. "I want that spot back when I get back up here."

"Yeah," he grumbled, perking up a second later. "Bring me a snack, would ya?"

"No, I will not."

Rachel's journey downstairs to see what on earth Salem was taking about was slow and careful, not wanting to step on any creaky floorboards and alert anyone to how she was sneaking around her friend's house in the middle of the night at the behest of a talking cat.

Rachel was halfway down the stairs when she peered over the bannister where she could clearly see Quinn's silhouette in the living room, facing away from her. Quinn had her sleeping bag on top of a thick duvet, and Rachel thought that with the chill in the air, the idea of being tucked inside a sleeping bag with Quinn and ample padding underneath them might be the most appealing idea she could currently think of.

Rachel's brows tightened when she heard it; crying.

Against her better nature, she padded down the remaining steps and slowly crossed the distance over to the middle of the room where the furniture had been temporarily moved. She kneeled down and reached out with a hesitant hand to rub what she assumed to be Quinn's arm over the sleeping bag. "Hey, come on. Don't."

A frustrated, embarrassed sound was trapped in Quinn's throat. "Go."

"But—"

"Please, I can't…"

Rachel couldn't leave Quinn after everything she'd done to find her, and not after what they'd been through. "It's normal to be ... overwhelmed," she said. "After what you've been through, it's normal to feel like nothing makes sense anymore, and then how it's worse when things are crystal clear and you don't want them to be. You just want things to go back to how they were." Rachel was talking about spells and sprinkles and other realms, but she knew there could be double meaning to her words. Since Quinn hadn't ordered her away, she searched for something to say; perfect words to make everything okay. They didn't exist, of course, but she would distract her if nothing else. "I went to two realms," she divulged. "It probably doesn't seem like a big deal after how many Tina said you guys went to, but it was still…the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, and that's saying a lot because I could tell you some really, _really_ messed up stories.

"But in those realms, I was either really popular, like Queen of McKinley, or about where I am now with only one or two differences between our worlds. You had tattoos," Rachel smiled. "You looked really…badass. A-and in the other one, you were so sweet but there was an attitude hidden away in there, I could tell. Not including our final realm together, but it seemed like all of the differences worked in those worlds. I mean, sometimes things weren't perfect but they could be. They had the potential to be, you know? Somehow. It might have been scary at first, but the dust settled. It always settles, Quinn. Wherever you are, or whatever's going on."

Rachel couldn't help but feel triumphant when she realised that the quiet sounds Quinn made when she was crying —and she hated them already, it was decided— had dropped even further. A response on the previous topic was unexpected for good reason but her hand remained on Quinn's arm, unmoving now but its weight proving as a reminder that she was still there.

"How's your back?" She asked after a break. "Maybe someone should take a look at it." Rachel knew nobody would have to. Injuries from other realms were healed like nothing had ever happened as soon as they crossed back over the threshold to their familiar world. Tina's generosity with her magic in the hallway had simply been because she couldn't stand to see her friend hurt. Rachel loved her for it.

"Fine," Quinn replied quietly.

"Well, I'm... I'm glad you're okay. I know I was kind of a brat earlier, but the fact that you tried to find me in so many different places means so much to me. If the... you know, if the tables are ever turned you can expect me to be out there doing exactly what you did for me, and I'm pretty good at finding things, so."

Quinn was crying again and then Rachel's hand did move in what she hoped to be a soothing pattern. She didn't know what else to say when she had to tread on eggshells as it was. Quinn beat her to it.

"I didn't think we would find you."

"But you did, and I'm home. We're all home." Quinn turned on her back to stare up at her and it was there that Rachel could see the excess moisture in her eyes and the way Quinn gazed up at her in a way that pulled at Rachel's chest; like she was the cause of so much pain that the usually-reserved Quinn could do nothing but cry. When Quinn's arm came out from the warm cocoon of the sleeping bag to rest on top of it, Rachel moved her hand away. She wasn't sure if a touch would be welcomed. She did know one thing. "Quinn, we have to talk about what happened. You're going to explode if you don't. _I'm_ going to explode if you don't."

"I can't. I can't; not that. Not yet."

She sounded so panicked and Rachel's fingers wrapped around Quinn's arm in a comforting gesture without forethought. "Okay. But— I think you need something. If you can't talk to me, could you talk to Tina, or maybe Mercedes? I can wake them, they won't mind."

"I don't need them."

"But you do need to talk. Okay? What happened with us was... a lot. We should talk about it. Whenever you're ready. We don't have to talk about all of it at once; we can split it up?"

Quinn was crying again and Rachel couldn't stand it. "Am I making it worse by being here? I can…go."

Quinn shook her head and sniffed. A second later, Rachel felt warm fingers skate across hers and stay there. Quinn simply looked at her, and Rachel was unsure what to do.

"I know we have to talk about the other week," Quinn admitted. "But can we— do we have to talk about everything?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Can we not talk about tonight? Will you just...let it be? Can you do that?"

Rachel wasn't sure what Quinn meant until Quinn's hand skirted up her arm and stopped at her shoulder, gently pulling. She complied with the request and lowered herself down, bracing one hand on the plushness of a pillow beside Quinn's head as she hovered above her. She was nervous and knew it translated in her voice. "Like this?"

Almost.

"No."

Rachel ducked her head and Quinn's fingers curled around the back of her neck, drawing her in the rest of the way. The pressure of Quinn's mouth against hers was unexpected to say the least and she had to bring her free hand up to Quinn's face to confirm that it was real and not a figment of her imagination, especially when Quinn slanted her head, dragging and pressing her mouth over Rachel's; gradually coaxing those lips apart with a finesse that had Rachel's pulse spiking.

Technically she'd kissed Quinn recently, and while she could admit that the kisses she shared with the alternate Quinn's had been incredibly enjoyable, they were nothing like this. There was something different about this Quinn. It was more. It was never wanting to pull away, how her fingers itched to latch onto shapely hips and tug until she could feel the alluring press of Quinn's form against her own. It was all of the ways she'd thought about _this_ Quinn over the past three years and how she'd never been so intimate with anyone, even if the execution had been because of a spell; a spell that never would have worked if both participants didn't genuinely want it to.

Quinn apparently had no such restraint as her hand travelled down Rachel's body, curling an arm around the small of her back to crush their bodies together.

The sleeping bag was more than a slight hindrance in getting the contact they wanted but they didn't stop kissing to rectify it, and Rachel didn't think she should be judged for that when Quinn's kiss was all lips, teeth, and tongue, devouring her mouth like she'd been desperate to for weeks.

A moan spilled from Rachel's mouth when Quinn's lips wrapped around her tongue and sucked, and the sound only brought encouragement. They couldn't stop _kissing_ and it was incredible. Rachel remembered a shred of information from a couple of weeks ago and returned a firm kiss, following it with several more; turning soft and passionate until she sunk her teeth into the plump, pliable flesh of Quinn's bottom lip and pulled. The needy sound produced from Quinn's mouth as a result of it made the chill of the room non-existent.

The noise seemed to have made the opposite impression on Quinn, who stiffened soon after, not even giving Rachel a final kiss before she slowly pulled back. The turn of events caused disappointment to spike through Rachel while she lay in the same spot, her torso pressed against Quinn's with her hips still held close. If the deeply resented sleeping bag wasn't in the way, she would have had the length of her body pressed against Quinn's side and would be able to feel her in a much more satisfying way.

Her head fell to Quinn's neck when her body sagged; willing her body to calm down after it had just been worked up inordinately fast. Eyes closed, quickened breaths eventually returned to normal. Retracting herself might have been easier had she not have felt Quinn's subtle shiver from the expelled breaths against her skin. Rachel knew she hadn't imagined it because Quinn followed it by letting her hands fall away. Now all that connected them physically was Rachel's proximity. Moments later she lifted her head and Quinn licked her lips, glancing away from Rachel's mouth guiltily.

"I'm gonna go," Rachel said quietly, almost a warning and not quite a request to stay.

Quinn nodded.

X

With an incredibly surreal day behind them, both girls thought it would be close to dawn when they fell asleep but the day full of surprises hadn't stopped there; they fell into slumber within as little as fifteen minutes. Rachel had stumbled upstairs to bed in a bit of a haze and didn't hesitate in lifting Salem up to reclaim her rightful spot. She needed something to hold though, so she turned on her side and tucked him against her chest. He didn't even wake.

It must have been the travelling, she surmised when she awoke to sunlight streaming through the window. It wasn't a soft light, and she rolled over to crane her neck towards the alarm clock to see the damage. In doing so, she discovered that she was the last of the group to wake and that it was nearing ten-thirty.

Excluding the time a terrible stomach bug took out half the school last year for at least three days, Rachel had never slept so late.

Her first instinct was to groan pitifully, mourning for the better part of the day she'd slept away, and then to gasp.

Quinn!

What if she'd already left?

The shower Rachel took would be one of the shortest of her life.

X

She was, by a long stretch, the last of the guests to emerge from upstairs.

Tina sat on the couch between Kurt and Mercedes as the rest of the group listened with rapt attention and tired eyes as he over-exaggerated yet another story from the previous day. She sensed more than heard Rachel approaching and she caught sight of the way Quinn stiffened at the incoming presence and bolted from the arm of the couch, disappearing off in the kitchen.

Tina closed a fist around her index finger, trying to keep in mind Quinn's behaviour yesterday; that it wasn't awful and maybe that merited _not_ being turned into a goat. It didn't stop her from following.

"Don't ruin it."

Quinn was fixing a scarf around her neck in the kitchen. Her bag was already packed and waiting for her by the door. "Excuse me?"

"The progress you made," Tina said, having some difficulty reading whatever was running through Quinn's head. Her eyes were always so guarded to her.

"Thank you for not killing me in my sleep," Quinn said, edging closer to the door once she heard Rachel's bright good morning to her friends —and Brittany and Santana.

"Thanks for not giving me reason to?"

Quinn's eyes fell on Rachel who had walked into the kitchen seemingly disappointed, and she closed her mouth, as if preparing herself for the barrage of questions or, worse, pleasantries. However, she steeled herself for nothing because Rachel's gaze settled on her and then away as if nobody was there.

Tina saw a reaction so small it might as well have been her imagination, but a frown flickered over Quinn's face.

Rachel went about making a cup of tea and looked up to ask if Tina wanted a cup after she'd heard the back door close.

"Rachel," Tina sighed.

"Unless you wanted coffee?"

"What are you doing?"

Rachel went about preparing her tea as if she was unaware of what just happened. She dropped one heaped teaspoon of sugar in her mug and eyed her friend warily. "Asking if you'd like a warm drink?"

"You don't ignore Quinn. I didn't think you knew how."

She shrugged, and at least made an effort not to look too affected by it. "I'm just doing what she wants me to do."

"It's no secret that I haven't been her biggest fan in the past, but I don't think even Quinn knows what she wants right now. Or if she does, she's having a really hard time accepting it. Try to be patient."

"I _am_!" Rachel returned. "Which is exactly why I'm giving her space until she feels ready to talk. I may have the stage presence of a baby great, but that doesn't mean I don't have real feelings. After what happened last night, if I even looked at her properly I don't know that I would have been able to keep that promise."

Tina's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What happened last night?"

Rachel swallowed thickly. "Tea or coffee?" she asked in an obvious attempt to steer the conversation away from the status of her relationship with Quinn.

It worked, but only because Tina was a wonderful friend.

X

Much to everyone's surprise, Brittany, Santana, and Quinn all remained in the Glee club by their own free will.

Three weeks had passed, and while Rachel had been lucky enough to be around Quinn during the class and any extra rehearsals the group had together, she was also unlucky enough to experience the cold shoulder from the girl she couldn't stop thinking about. It didn't _surprise_ her, per se, but it did sting. It always stung.

After much reflection on her talk with Tina the morning after the sleepover, Rachel went into school on the Monday and was civil and polite and friendly without going overboard. She didn't have anything to prove anymore and honestly, it felt refreshing to have a new outlook and approach to the situation.

The appeal wore off after about a week and a half when nothing she did would make Quinn glance at her for more than a second or respond to a stilted, almost one-sided conversation with anything more than one or two-word answers.

Rachel had grown more resentful of the situation with each day that passed.

Finally, after passing into week three, she decided that she was a little bit angry with Quinn. Fair enough if Quinn needed _time_ ; she would give her that, but there had been zero progress without even an inclination that Quinn would ever bring up their recent history. Okay, technically they weren't supposed to talk about the kiss at Tina's but after knowing how she felt about her, Rachel saw it as a bit of a slap to the face for Quinn to kiss her like that and then act like it never happened. But she couldn't say anything because she was the one who agreed to it.

And she didn't know if she was horribly wrong about any of that because Quinn wouldn't even look at her.

Despite her mounted frustration, Rachel pushed through a gruelling rehearsal for an upcoming competition with the group. Mr. Schuester had written (simple) choreography to accompany her song that she shared with Finn for a duet set to knock the audience off their feet, while the other members of the group provided the perfect backing. Finn had trouble with some of the trickier steps. There weren't any tricky steps in the choreography but he looked so disappointed each time he messed up that Rachel brushed it off and encouraged him again and again until he got it, laughing when they finally completed a successful run-through and he lifted her up in the air and spun her around.

The sparkle to her eyes didn't diminish when she spotted Quinn abandoning practice early.

The next time Rachel spoke to her was two days later.

Quinn missed Glee and Rachel was on the warpath. She searched high and low, until she heard from a girl that her boyfriend had overheard from his friend that a Cheerio had been heading towards the nurse's office about an hour ago.

The only reason Rachel was allowed in to visit was because of her insisted right to see her friend on her deathbed. Her dramatics could get old fairly quickly and she knew how to play on it to get what she wanted. It came in handy during instances like this.

She walked into an adjacent room and pulled on the curtain to give herself space to enter Quinn's make-shift room. To be fair, Quinn did look ill. She was pale again; dark circles under her eyes giving away lack of sleep, and looked to be deep in thought. She did not appreciate the intrusion on her privacy, especially when she saw who it was.

Rachel rapidly went from worked-up to concern. "Are you okay?"

"Headache."

"Do you need—"

"What I need is a little peace and quiet," Quinn answered tightly. "For you not to yap every two seconds about things that I don't want to hear, or care to know. So, don't even start."

Rachel's face evened out; never a good sign. "Fine," she shrugged. "Why don't you talk? I'll listen."

"Seems counter-productive in getting you away from me."

"Why? What do you think I'm going to do, pounce? Give me a little more credit."

"Because you deserve it?"

"Frankly, yes!" She wasn't the one who initiated their last kiss. She wasn't the one who latched onto Quinn's hips and pulled her close.

Quinn stuck her jaw out in annoyance, looking away to shake her head. She was in a _terrible_ mood, and genuinely did have a headache. She didn't mean to be short with Rachel but the mere sight of her made Quinn panic. It was manageable when she kept her distance and consuming whenever they were close; whenever Rachel was within arm's reach. Whenever she was off twirling around with Finn like an idiot.

Rachel stared at her with mounting frustration and then Quinn stopped looking irritated with her and more with herself. Rachel thought of the other week when they were alone in Tina's living room and then there was a crack in her exasperation. "Are you mad at me for something?"

"No," Quinn said smoothly, without looking at her.

"I'm sorry if I did something t—"

"You didn't, so shut up. Think you can handle that, or do I have to call the nurse and have you escorted out for being a hazard to my health?"

"Why—" Rachel laughed emotionlessly and her eyes darkened like a switch had been flipped. "Why isn't anything I do good enough for you?" Quinn's mouth tightened into a firm line and Rachel sensed that this conversation was going to get a lot worse before it got better. "Look at me," she demanded, pushing on Quinn's arm when she didn't move. "Or is that too much for you to handle?"

Quinn met her eyes slowly. "What do you want, Rachel?"

"I want this," Rachel said, a little shrilly. "I want you to talk to me, about what happened the other week, and at Tina's."

"It's called possession; look it up. As for realm-hopping, well, maybe if you'd have _warned_ me there was a talking cat then none of it would have happened in the first place."

"Does it make it easier for you, blaming me for every little thing that goes wrong in your life?" Rachel asked. "Because even before what happened, it seems to me like you've always found a way to make me pay for the things you either don't like about yourself or what's going wrong in it. A-and I sucked it up and I tried to deal because I thought, you know what? Being on Quinn's radar, for better or worse, it has to be a good thing. At least she's fixated on me. But why is that good?" she asked suddenly. "What does it say about me if I let you do this after I _slept_ with you?"

Quinn had no qualms about raising her voice. "Like there's some other way to see it? You gave me cake that was—"

"Meant to give me some answers!" Rachel said. "It was _just_ the truth, Quinn. Once you rejected my offer of the cake, I found extra sprinkles in the bag and decorated it in disappointment more than anything. And I _left_ it on the side; I didn't ask you to eat it once my back was turned. Don't you think it was humiliating for me too?" Rachel looked angry and upset. "You won't even look at me half the time. You think I was so desperate for you that I can handle this? It hurts me."

"You were! You admitted that you set out to—"

"I admitted that I wanted you to be honest with me," Rachel countered. "Something you still have an issue with despite what we've been through." She deflated at the irritation on Quinn's face. "It was supposed to be a truth spell, okay? That's all. Tina's magic and spells go... awry sometimes. It's happened on a few occasions, and I'm sure it will happen again."

"This is your fault," Quinn said with certainty, like she'd been deaf for Rachel's explanation.

"You know, the only person who was force-fed that cake was me."

Quinn's face darkened instantly. "What did you say?"

"The truth. Try it some time." For a second, Rachel was sure she was about to be hit in the face.  
Then Quinn froze and looked so close to tears that Rachel's heart seized in realisation. "I didn't mean that. That's not what I meant."

"It was the _spell_ ," Quinn said frantically. "I was pos— I would never do anything like that," she said. Her heart was still beating too fast. "No matter how..."

"Hey," Rachel said, finding Quinn's eyes. "I know. Okay? I wanted everything that happened. I'd thought about you like that so many times. The spell just gave me the confidence and... knowledge of what the hell I was even doing."

Quinn wondered why Rachel tried so hard with her, why she even liked her. It wasn't like she was consistently nice to her or ever had a moment of weakness and opened up to her. The nicest thing Quinn had ever done for Rachel, she cringed, was help her achieve orgasm. Even then it hadn't been a fully conscious effort.

No, it was those damn sprinkles.

Quinn wondered what Rachel saw in her when she was an overcast day at her best, whereas Rachel was one of those summer days that never seemed to end.

"You should go," she said softly.

Rachel couldn't believe her ears and her voice was incredulous. "Really?"

"You're going to be late for class."

"I don't care." She stared openly. If Quinn wasn't going to look at her, she would stare as long as she liked. "Quinn, are you still mad at me?"

"No."

"Is it because I ignored you at Tina's on Saturday, because I thought that's what you wanted. You left the room as soon as you knew I was walking into it. For you to be mad at me for that... Unless it's about Friday night? I know it's a lot. Travelling like that, seeing the same people but so _different_ is…" Quinn looked different, Rachel observed. It looked like she was hurting. "Be mad at me, but please don't be upset with me. To think that I've hurt you—"

Quinn swallowed thickly, remembering the Rachel that said that to her in the bathroom, and the one who... who was set to be a teenage bride. "Stop it," she said quietly, relieved when silence followed it.

She'd essentially spent five weeks trying to avoid what happened with Rachel (with that one couple-minute break three weeks ago) and try to think of it as something that happened to a different Quinn. One of the Quinn's who were living a completely separate life to her. Except she couldn't get rid of the baggage or the memories, or the way it had been a battle to distance herself again after that kiss. Out of all of the realms she went to, one stuck out in her mind and she couldn't stop thinking about it, especially not when she had to serve as a prop to a four-minute Finn and Rachel love story and watch him lift her up for some kind of stupid twirl that hadn't even been in the choreography.

Finn wasn't too skilled in his position as quarterback but she couldn't deny that he had a good arm on him during the couple of games a season they won. If he got excited on opening night, his freakishly strong ogre arms would probably fling Rachel right into the crowd.

"I'm not trying to pressure you," Rachel said after a long beat. "I know we're teenagers but can we try to be mature? Regardless of _how_ it happened, we were…close. We should talk about it."

God, Rachel talked about it like it was so easy. Quinn didn't understand it at all. "What do you expect me to do? There's so much you don't even know about me, Rachel. You barely know me. And what are you going to do when you find all of that out?"

"All I expect is for you to be honest; really honest, without lying to me or yourself. And all I want _is_ to find out all of those things. Trust me, it takes a lot to scare me."

"The truth is that when you decide this isn't worth your time, you're going to look to the male lead of your choir who clearly has it bad for you, and then you'll get married and probably pop out a couple of kids before your career has even taken off."

"Finn? Are you serious?"

"You both love to perform for an audience. He's…challenging, you're patient. You smile and laugh around him sometimes, and the attention he gives you is flattering. Seeing as you're…not gay, it isn't a stretch for you to be with him."

"You just described our relationship. And come on, attention from _anyone_ is flattering. You don't have to be interested in pursuing a romantic attachment to appreciate a little attention now and then. It's good for the soul."

Well, that backfired.

Quinn turned pink. "He's a boy."

"Who I like very much. He's a really good friend, Quinn. You don't have to be jealous of him."

"I'm not."

Considering how she felt about Quinn and how intimate they'd been, it would certainly be misplaced envy. "Look, I don't expect you to walk up to me and kiss me against a locker any time soon. I don't even know if that's something you want anymore. All I expect is for you to not act like I'm some sort of predator. It would be nice if we could be friends while you figure everything out. Okay? Maybe you could start small; sit by me in Glee."

"That's it? Sit by you and we're automatically friends?"

"Well, no. Ideally, we'll work our way up to actual conversations and hanging out outside of academic obligations. But I'm willing to be patient as long as you don't shut me out completely like you have been doing. What do you think?" she asked. "Are you agreeable to any of that, or am I wasting my time?"

X

Wrong.

Rachel's head shook in disproval, lacking any ounce of subtlety. It was all wrong. The piece of paper she lifted off her chair prior to sitting down for Glee was their final set-list for an upcoming show. Aside from the duet she and Finn were singing, it was hideously wrong. Had Mr. Schuester even heard his students sing? In what universe could Kurt sing that low and sound good? Rachel's eyes widened the further down she read. This would have to be rectified immediately. Upon a second read-over, she noticed the title indicating victory and Rachel rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it. Mr. Schuester was in dire need of a reality check if he thought this would get their little club noticed in the right way.

Rachel's head shot up and she raised her hand needlessly being that she was currently the only student present. Mr. Schuester was not facing her and she didn't speak out of turn. The only audible sounds were the squeak of the marker against the whiteboard and the scuff of his shoes as he moved around, checking sheet music for the day.

And Rachel's huff.

A flash of red, white, and black stole her attention away and she watched as Quinn strolled into the room. Quinn stiffened slightly the further she ventured into the room but at least she didn't look like an invisible hand was forcing her into the room anymore, so that was progress indeed.

She eyed Mr. Schuester's back for the majority of the journey and Rachel had a pretty strong hunch that it was a deliberate act. Such a thing didn't matter once she came to a stop beside her and lowered a book bag to the floor before sitting down.

Rachel didn't even think to smile.

Quinn noticed, and seemed more at ease because of it. Rachel wasn't making a huge deal out of it, so there was no conceivable way it was a big deal. Her heart could slow down now.

"What's that?" she asked a little tensely, gesturing down to the paper. It had to be important if Rachel looked like she was going to go Kill Will on their teacher. Thank goodness he didn't teach Home Ec.

Rachel thrust the paper into Quinn's hands like she wanted to _burn_ it.

"The downfall of the New Directions."

Quinn's eyes went back to the paper, nodding as if she understood what was so wrong about the song selections. She kept her head down when Mr. Schuester apparently overheard Rachel's little comment and asked her what she meant by that and most definitely when Rachel fearlessly launched into a full blown tirade in response.

They didn't exactly have a conversation during the length of class but they exchanged a dozen or so words and Quinn _tried_ ; something Rachel noted and appreciated so much. It was an effort made without the coercion of cursed sprinkles or any other magical influence.

An hour later Rachel would be postponing her homework and ignoring her best friend's demand to sit back down as she danced around the kitchen with Salem.


End file.
